First
The scientific and mathematical arguments commonly presented to claim that the Darwinian theory of evolution is highly unlikely to be true mainly focus on the perceived improbability of complex organisms arising through random mutation and natural selection, as well as critiques of evidential reliability and theoretical completeness.
Key points from these arguments include:
Probability and Mathematical Improbability:
Critics argue that the probability of life forms, especially complex integrated organisms, emerging purely by random mutation combined with natural selection within the geologic timescale is astronomically low—cited in one source as less than one chance in a billion trillion. They claim this makes the Darwinian mechanism "mathematically and logically indefensible"[2][4]. Such probability arguments often contend that the sheer number of possible genetic combinations vastly exceeds what random mutation could explore even in billions of years.
Challenges of Mutation and Novelty Creation:
It is argued that for a mutation to create a beneficial new form, it must involve complex genetic regulation occurring early in development, affecting many downstream genes. Mutations are generally seen as harmful or neutral far more often than beneficial[4]. This challenges the idea that beneficial mutations accumulate sufficiently to drive evolutionary innovation.
Philosophical and Theoretical Critiques:
Some modern analyses suggest Darwin's original theory was constrained and "put evolution into a straitjacket," limiting the scope of evolutionary possibilities. This is seen as potentially incompatible with more recent views of open-ended, contingent evolutionary processes[5]. Darwin himself acknowledged that his theory was a probable hypothesis, not a demonstration beyond doubt[1].
Reliability of Evidence:
There are objections to the reliability of key evidence supporting evolution, such as radiometric dating methods and the fossil record. Opponents claim these methods rely on assumptions like uniform decay rates or closed systems, which they say may not hold, and highlight gaps in the fossil record as problematic[3].
References:
[1] Darwin's Critics: Then and Now - Article
https://biologos.org/articles/darwins-critics-then-and-now
[2] The Mathematical Impossibility Of Evolution
https://www.icr.org/content/mathematical-impossibility-evolution
[3] Objections to evolution
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Objections_to_evolution
[4] Darwin DEBUNKED: Using Breakthroughs In Math & Science (14 ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8U8QV8HNDg
[5] An approaching storm in evolutionary theory - Oxford Academic
https://academic.oup.com/evolut/article/77/4/1170/7005661
So,
here is Synthemon's explantion:
Synthemon's Explanation of the Origin of Life and the Theory of Evolution on Earth
Synchronistic theistic monism, or Synthemon, provides a comprehensive metaphysical framework that harmonizes scientific observations with divine intentionality, viewing the origin of life and the process of evolution not as random accidents but as purposeful expressions of a unified cosmic design orchestrated by an omniscient Creator [1][4]. At its core, Synthemon posits that the cosmos began with the Big Bang, a singular event evidenced by cosmic microwave background radiation, which was not a mere explosion of matter but a deliberate act of divine creation, setting the stage for the emergence of life through fine-tuned physical constants that suggest intelligent design [1][6]. This framework rejects purely naturalistic explanations that reduce life's origins to chance, instead emphasizing that God, as the transcendent source of truth and omnipotent architect, intentionally crafted the universe as an interconnected whole, where physical and spiritual attributes coexist in one fundamental essence [4][2].
In explaining the origin of life, Synthemon integrates the concept of abiogenesis—the transition from non-living matter to living organisms—with synchronistic principles, asserting that this process was guided by meaningful, acausal connections that reflect God's overarching plan [5][6]. Rather than viewing the self-assembly of complex molecules like DNA as probabilistically impossible, Synthemon sees these events as synchronistically orchestrated, where quantum entanglement and ecological interconnections facilitate the precise conditions necessary for life, aligning physical events with spiritual meaning to form the first living cells on Earth approximately 3.5 to 4 billion years ago [1][5]. This perspective draws on attribute dualism, where the singular divine substance manifests both physical (matter and energy) and mental/spiritual attributes, allowing God to infuse purpose into seemingly random chemical reactions, such as those in primordial soups or hydrothermal vents, without violating natural laws [4][6]. Divine epistemology plays a key role here, suggesting that true understanding of life's origins comes not solely from empirical science but through revelation, intuition, and symbolic interpretation, which reveal how synchronicity weaves the fabric of reality to enable life's emergence as part of a holistic system greater than its parts [2][3].
Synthemon fully accommodates a theory of evolution on Earth, but reinterprets it as a directed, purposeful process rather than an undirected, random mechanism, aligning with observational evidence like the fossil record while infusing it with divine intentionality [1][4]. Evolution, in this view, is the systematic unfolding of God's plan through natural selection, genetic mutation, and adaptation, where species diversify over time in response to environmental pressures, but these changes are synchronistically guided to reflect the unity of opposites and constant flux inspired by Heraclitean philosophy [5][6]. For instance, the evolution from single-celled organisms to complex multicellular life, including humans, is seen as an intentional progression enabled by the fine-tuning of the cosmos, where improbabilities—such as the formation of new genes—are resolved through meaningful coincidences that connect physical causation with spiritual purpose, rejecting the notion of "blind chance" in favor of a holistic integration [3][1]. This framework critiques atheistic Darwinism by emphasizing that while natural processes like survival of the fittest explain mechanistic aspects, they are incomplete without acknowledging the omnipresent Holy Spirit as a divine guide indwelling creation, facilitating evolutionary leaps that point to intelligent design [2][4].
Moreover, Synthemon's substance monism with attribute dualism underscores that the Earthly biosphere is not a separate, material realm but part of "the One"—a transcendent essence underlying all reality—where evolutionary developments manifest the harmony between thought (spiritual evolution toward divine alignment) and extension (physical adaptation) [6][1]. Psychic phenomena, precognitive dreams, and tools like the I Ching or Tarot can offer insights into evolutionary patterns, serving as synchronistic bridges that reveal God's plan, such as how mass extinctions and subsequent radiations align with cosmic cycles for renewal and growth [5][3]. This synthesis draws from Neoplatonism and Taoism, viewing evolution as an emanation from the divine, where yin-yang dualities (e.g., competition and cooperation) drive change within a unified order, avoiding Gnostic dualism's rejection of the material world by affirming the cosmos as inherently good and purposefully evolving [4][6].
In practical terms, Synthemon encourages living in harmony with this evolutionary understanding, promoting principles like ethical stewardship of the environment and personal spiritual growth, as evolution reflects the divine call to adapt and integrate opposites for a meaningful life [2][3]. Benefits include a sense of purpose amid change, reduced existential anxiety through recognition of interconnectedness, and enhanced intuition for navigating life's fluxes, all grounded in the belief that evolution is not antithetical to faith but a testament to God's all-good nature [3][5]. Ultimately, Synthemon posits that the origin of life and Earth's evolutionary history are profound demonstrations of divine craftsmanship, where synchronicity ensures that every adaptation and emergence serves the greater cosmic unity, inviting humanity to participate consciously in this ongoing creation [1][4][6].
Sources
1 Synthemon: the nature of God's Cosmic Essence in the Synthemon worldview. https://manypossibilities1.blogspot.com/2025/05/synthemon-nature-of-gods-cosmic-essence.html
2 Synthemon: principles to live a life in conformity to synthemon. https://manypossibilities1.blogspot.com/2025/05/synthemon-principles-to-live-life-in.html
3 Synthemon: benefits of synthemon worldview. https://manypossibilities1.blogspot.com/2025/07/synthemon-benefits-of-synthemon.html
4 Synthemon: an updated and refined version of synthemon 5 Synchronicity: objective definition and empirical data. https://manypossibilities1.blogspot.com/2025/05/synchronicity.html
6 Synchronic Theistic Monism: an Ebook that explains Tarot, I Ching, and more. By Michael Perel, M.D https://manypossibilities1.blogspot.com/2025/04/theistic-dual-aspect-monism.html
In addition
Building on Synthemon's perspective of the origin of life and evolution as purposeful, synchronistically guided processes within a unified cosmic design, let's delve deeper into how this framework addresses key scientific debates, such as the role of RNA world hypothesis in abiogenesis and the integration of punctuated equilibrium in evolutionary theory, all while emphasizing divine intentionality [1][6]. In Synthemon, the RNA world—where self-replicating RNA molecules are proposed as precursors to DNA-based life—is not dismissed as improbable chance but viewed as a synchronistic bridge between non-living chemistry and biological complexity, orchestrated by God's omniscient plan to align physical conditions like Earth's early hydrothermal environments with spiritual meaning, ensuring life's emergence reflects the interconnectedness of the fundamental essence [2][5]. This interpretation resolves apparent improbabilities by invoking synchronicity, where acausal connections facilitate the formation of ribozymes and protocells, demonstrating how the divine substance's attribute dualism allows mental/spiritual attributes to influence physical extension without direct intervention, fostering a holistic unity greater than its parts [4][6].
Furthermore, Synthemon enriches the theory of evolution by incorporating punctuated equilibrium, the idea that species remain stable for long periods before undergoing rapid changes, as evidence of God's timed interventions through synchronistic events, such as asteroid impacts or climate shifts that trigger adaptive radiations, aligning with Heraclitean flux and the unity of opposites to drive purposeful progression from prokaryotes to eukaryotes and beyond [3][5]. For example, the Cambrian Explosion, often cited as a challenge to gradual Darwinian evolution, is reframed in Synthemon as a burst of divine creativity, where fine-tuned cosmic laws and ecological webs synchronistically converge to produce morphological diversity, reflecting the omnipresent Holy Spirit's guidance in weaving mind and matter into an organic whole [1][4]. This view critiques reductionist materialism by highlighting divine epistemology, where intuitive insights from dreams or symbolic systems like the I Ching reveal evolutionary patterns as part of God's plan, offering precognitive glimpses into the timeless nature of the divine order and encouraging ethical living in harmony with these fluxes [2][3].
Synthemon also explores human evolution specifically, positing that the development of Homo sapiens from earlier hominids was not random but a synchronistic culmination enabling spiritual awareness, where genetic mutations for larger brains and symbolic thought align with the indwelling Holy Spirit to foster moral and intellectual growth, integrating Neoplatonic emanation with Taoist yin-yang dynamics for a balanced worldview [6][5]. Practically, this understanding promotes benefits like reduced anxiety through recognition of interconnectedness, enhanced decision-making via synchronistic guidance, and a call to stewardship, as evolution is seen as an ongoing invitation to align with divine principles for personal and collective fulfillment [4][3]. In essence, Synthemon transforms evolutionary science into a testament of faith, where life's origins and adaptations reveal the all-good Creator's intentional design, inviting deeper exploration through tools like Tarot for intuitive alignment with this cosmic narrative [2][1].
Sources
1 Synthemon: the nature of God's Cosmic Essence in the Synthemon worldview. https://manypossibilities1.blogspot.com/2025/05/synthemon-nature-of-gods-cosmic-essence.html
2 Synchronic Theistic Monism: an Ebook that explains Tarot, I Ching, and more. By Michael Perel, M.D.
https://manypossibilities1.blogspot.com/2025/04/theistic-dual-aspect-monism.html
3 Synthemon: principles to live a life in conformity to synthemon. https://manypossibilities1.blogspot.com/2025/05/synthemon-principles-to-live-life-in.html
4 Synthemon: benefits of synthemon worldview. https://manypossibilities1.blogspot.com/2025/07/synthemon-benefits-of-synthemon.html
5 Synchronicity: objective definition and empirical data. https://manypossibilities1.blogspot.com/2025/05/synchronicity.html
6 Synthemon: an updated and refined version of synthemon https://manypossibilities1.blogspot.com/2025/08/synthemon-updated-and-refined-version.html
Great white sharks have a DNA mystery science still can’t explain
- August 16, 2025
- Florida Museum of Natural History
- Once on the brink during the last ice age, great white sharks made a remarkable recovery globally, but their DNA reveals a baffling story. Classic migration explanations fail, leaving scientists with a mystery that defies reproductive and evolutionary logic.
Key points
- White sharks exhibit stark differences between the DNA in their nuclei and the DNA in their mitochondria. Until now, scientists have pointed to the migration patterns of great whites to explain these differences.
- Scientists tested this theory in a new study by analyzing genetic differences between global white shark populations. In doing so, they discovered that great whites were restricted to a single population in the Indo-Pacific Ocean at the end of the last ice age 10,000 years ago and have since expanded to their current global distribution.
- The results also invalidate the migration theory, but an alternative explanation remains elusive.
White sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) almost went bottom-up during the last ice age, when sea levels were much lower than they are today and sharks had to get by with less space. The most recent cold snap ended about 10,000 years ago, and the planet has been gradually warming ever since. As temperatures increased, glaciers melted, and sea levels rose, which was good news for great whites.
Results of a study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences show that white sharks had been reduced to a single, well-mixed population somewhere in the southern Indo-Pacific Ocean. White sharks began genetically diverging about 7,000 years ago, suggesting that they had broken up into two or more isolated populations by this time.
This is new information but not particularly surprising. There are never many white sharks around even at the best of times, as befits their status at the top of the tapered food chain, where a lack of elbow room limits their numbers. Today, there are three genetically distinct white shark populations: one in the southern hemisphere around Australia and South Africa, one in the northern Atlantic and another in the northern Pacific. Though widespread, the number of white sharks still remains low.
"There are probably about 20,000 individuals globally," said study co-author Gavin Naylor, director of the Florida Program for Shark Research at the Florida Museum of Natural History. "There are more fruit flies in any given city than there are great white sharks in the entire world."
Organisms with small populations can be pushed dangerously close to the edge of extinction when times are tough. Mile-high glaciers extended from the poles and locked away so much water that by 25,000 years ago, sea levels had plunged by about 40 meters (131 feet), eliminating habitat and restricting great whites to an oceanic corral.
But something happened to great whites during their big comeback that remains as much of a mystery now as it was when it was first discovered more than 20 years ago. The primary motivation for this study was to lay out a definitive explanation, but despite using one of the largest genetic datasets on white sharks ever compiled, things did not go quite according to plan.
"The honest scientific answer is we have no idea," Naylor said.
Female great white sharks wander off for years to feed but come back home to breed
Scientists first got a whiff of something strange in 2001, when a research team published a paper that opened with the line, "… information about … great white sharks has been difficult to acquire, not least because of the rarity and huge size of this fish."
The authors of that study compared genetic samples taken from dozens of sharks in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. They found that though the DNA produced and stored in the nuclei of their cells were mostly the same between individuals, the mitochondrial DNA of sharks from South Africa were distinctly different from those in Australia and New Zealand.
The seemingly obvious explanation was that great whites tend to stick together and rarely make forays into neighboring groups. Over time, unique genetic mutations would have accumulated in each group, which, if it went on long enough, would result in the formation of new species.
This would explain the observed differences in their mitochondrial DNA but not why the nuclear DNA was virtually identical among all three populations. To account for that, the authors suggested that male sharks traveled vast distances throughout the year, but females either never traveled far, or if they did, they most often came back to the same place during the breeding season, a type of migration pattern called philopatry.
This idea was based on the fact that nuclear and mitochondrial DNA are not inherited in equal proportion in plants and animals. The DNA inside nuclei is passed down by both parents to their offspring, but only one -- most often the female -- contributes mitochondria to the next generation. This is a holdover from the days when mitochondria were free-living bacteria, before they were unceremoniously engulfed and repurposed by the ancestor of eukaryotes.
This was a good guess and had the added benefit of later turning out to be mostly accurate. Male and female great whites do travel large distances in search of food throughout the year, and females consistently make the return journey before it's time to mate.
Thus, the nuclear DNA of great whites should have less variation, because itinerant males go around mixing things up, while the mitochondrial DNA in different populations should be distinct because philopatric females ensure all the unique differences stay in one place. This has remained the favored explanation for the last two decades, one that seemed to fit like a well-worn glove. Except, no one ever got around to actually putting it on to test its size. This is primarily because the data needed to do so was hard to get for the same reasons mentioned in the touchstone study: There aren't many great white sharks, and when researchers do manage to find one, taking a DNA sample without losing any appendages in the process can be tricky business.
Shark migration cannot explain nuclear and mitochondrial discordance, so what can?
Naylor and his colleagues began collecting the necessary data back in 2012. "I wanted to get a white shark nuclear genome established to explore its molecular properties," he said. "White sharks have some very peculiar attributes, and we had about 40 or 50 samples that I thought we could use to design probes to look at their population structure."
Over the next few years, they also sequenced DNA from about 150 white shark mitochondrial genomes, which are smaller and less expensive to assemble than their nuclear counterparts. The samples came from all over the world, including the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans.
When they compared the two types of DNA, they found the same pattern as the one discovered in 2001. At the population level, white sharks in the North Atlantic rarely mixed with those from the South Atlantic. The same was true of sharks in the Pacific and Indian oceans. At a molecular level, the nuclear DNA among all white sharks remained fairly consistent, while the mitochondrial DNA showed a surprising amount of variation.
The researchers were aware of the philopatric theory and ran a few tests to see if it held up, first by looking specifically at the nuclear DNA. If the act of returning to the same place to mate really were the cause of the strange mitochondrial patterns, some small signal of that should also show up in the nuclear DNA, of which females contribute half to their offspring.
"But that wasn't reflected in the nuclear data at all," Naylor said.
Next, they concocted a sophisticated test for the mitochondrial genomes. To do this, they first had to reconstruct the recent evolutionary history of white sharks, which is how they discovered the single southern population they'd been reduced to during the last ice age.
"They were really few and far between when sea levels were lowest. Then the population increased and moved northward as the ice melted. We suspect they remained in those northern waters because they found a reliable food source," Naylor said. Specifically, they encountered seals, which are a dietary staple among white sharks and one of the main reasons why they have such a strong fidelity to specific locations.
"These white sharks come along, get a nice blubbery sausage. They fatten up, they breed, and then they move off around the ocean."
Knowing when the sharks split up was key, as each group would have begun genetically diverging from each other at this time. All the researchers had to do was determine whether the 10,000 years between now and the last ice age would have been enough time for the mitochondrial DNA to have accumulated the number of differences observed in the data if philopatry was the primary culprit.
They ran a simulation to find the answer, which came back negative. Philopatry is undoubtedly a behavioral pattern among great whites, but it was not responsible for the large mitochondrial schism.
So Naylor and his colleagues went back to the drawing board to figure out what sort of evolutionary force could account for the differences.
"I came up with the idea that sex ratios might be different -- that just a few females were contributing to the populations from one generation to the next," Naylor said. This type of reproductive skew can be observed in a variety of organisms, including meerkats, cichlid fish and many types of social insects.
But yet another test showed that reproductive skew did not apply to white sharks.
There is a third, albeit less likely, option the team members said they can't rule out at this stage, namely that natural selection is responsible for the differences. The reason why this is far-fetched has to do with the relative strength of evolutionary forces. Natural selection -- the idea that the organisms best suited to leave behind offspring will, in fact, generally be the ones that have the most offspring -- is always active, but it has the strongest effect in large populations. Smaller populations, in contrast, are more susceptible to something called genetic drift, in which random traits -- even harmful ones -- have a much higher chance of being passed down to the next generation.
Florida panthers, for example, are highly endangered, with only a few hundred individuals left in the wild. Most of them have a kink at the end of their tail, likely inherited from a single ancestor. In a large population, subject primarily to natural selection, this trait would have either remained uncommon or disappeared entirely over time. But in a small population, a single cat with a kinked tail can change the world purely by chance through the auspices of genetic drift.
By way of comparison, gravity exerts a force at all scales of matter and energy, but it is by far the weakest of the four fundamental physical forces. At the scale of planets and stars, gravity can hold solar systems and galaxies together, but it has very little influence on the shape or interactions of atoms, which are governed by the three stronger but more localized forces, such as electromagnetism.
According to the study's results, genetic drift cannot explain the differences between mitochondria in great whites. Because it is a completely random process, it cannot selectively target one type of DNA and spare another. If it were the culprit, similar changes would also be evident in the nuclear DNA.
This leaves natural selection as the only other possibility, which seems unlikely because of the small population sizes among white sharks. If it is the causative agent, Naylor said, the selective force "would have to be brutally lethal."
If you collect enough mass in a concentrated space, say on the order of a black hole, the otherwise benign force of gravity becomes powerful enough to devour light.
If natural selection is at play in this case, it would manifest itself in a similarly powerful way. Any deviation from the mitochondrial DNA sequence most common in a given population would likely be fatal, thus ensuring it was not passed on to the next generation.
But this is far from certain, and Naylor has his doubts about the validity of such a conclusion. For now, scientists are left with an open-ended question that can only be resolved with further study.
Additional co-authors of the study are: Romuald Laso-Jadart, Elise Gaya, Pierre Lesturgie and Stefano Mona of the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle; Shannon L. Corrigan, Lei Yang and Adrian Lee of the Florida Museum of Natural History; Olivier Fedrigo of the The Rockefeller University; Christopher Lowe and Kady Lyons of California State University Long Beach; Greg Skomal of the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth; Geremy Cliff of the University of KwaZulu-Natal; Mauricio Hoyos Padilla of Pelagios-Kakunjá Marine Conservation; Charlie Huveneers of Flinders University; Keiichi Sato of the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium; and James Glancy of the British Museum of Natural History.
Synthemon:
Synchronistic theistic monism, or Synthemon, interprets the DNA mystery in great white sharks as a profound example of the cosmos's interconnectedness and divine intentionality, where apparent genetic riddles—such as the stark differences between nuclear and mitochondrial DNA despite a recent bottleneck and global expansion—reveal purposeful patterns orchestrated by God's omniscient plan rather than mere randomness or unresolved evolutionary forces [6][3]. In this framework, the sharks' recovery from near-extinction during the last ice age, reducing them to a single Indo-Pacific population around 10,000 years ago before diverging into distinct groups, is not an inexplicable anomaly but a synchronistic unfolding, where physical events like rising sea levels and habitat expansion align meaningfully with spiritual attributes to facilitate adaptive genetic divergence, reflecting the unity of mind and matter in a holistic cosmic system [5][1]. Synthemon posits that such discrepancies, which invalidate traditional migration theories like female philopatry, arise from the fundamental essence's attribute dualism—one substance manifesting both physical (e.g., mitochondrial DNA variations influenced by environmental pressures) and mental/spiritual attributes (e.g., intuitive alignments guiding population resilience)—ensuring the species' survival as part of God's directed evolutionary process [2][6].
Yes, Synthemon helps explain the mystery by reframing it through synchronicity, the principle that weaves acausal connections between physical phenomena and deeper spiritual meaning, suggesting that the observed nuclear-mitochondrial discordance—unaccounted for by reproductive skew, genetic drift, or mild natural selection—represents a purposeful divine intervention in the sharks' genetic history, where intense selective forces (as hinted in the article) are synchronistically amplified to preserve biodiversity within the interconnected ecological webs of the oceans [5][4]. For instance, the framework views the sharks' low global population (around 20,000 individuals) and their fidelity to food sources like seals as evidence of fine-tuning, where God's omnipresent nature integrates metaphysical laws like causality and necessity to drive rapid genetic changes post-ice age, aligning with Heraclitean flux and the unity of opposites to foster resilience in top predators without contradicting observational science [3][1]. This perspective resolves the "baffling story" by emphasizing divine epistemology, where true knowledge of such enigmas comes from intuition and symbolic interpretation—perhaps even through tools like the I Ching or Tarot—that reveal how these DNA patterns reflect God's plan for cosmic harmony, turning what scientists call an "open-ended question" into a testament of intentional design in evolution [6][2].
Furthermore, Synthemon critiques purely materialistic explanations by highlighting how the sharks' global distribution and genetic uniformity in nuclear DNA, despite mitochondrial variation, exemplify substance monism's rejection of Gnostic dualism, affirming the cosmos as a unified whole where evolutionary mysteries like this one serve to guide humanity toward ethical living, such as environmental stewardship to protect vulnerable species [4][3]. Practically, this understanding offers benefits like reduced existential anxiety by recognizing these genetic riddles as synchronistic signs of divine order, encouraging alignment with principles of interconnectedness and personal growth amid life's fluxes [1][5]. In essence, Synthemon not only explains the mystery as a synchronistically guided evolutionary event but enriches scientific inquiry by integrating Neoplatonic harmony and Taoist yin-yang dynamics, positing that the unresolved aspects invite deeper revelation of God's all-good craftsmanship in the ongoing creation of life [6][2].
