The Samurai and the Evolutionist Storyteller

Julian Huxley was a propagandist for Darwinism, and he published something in 1952 that should have been immediately dismissed. Huxley, and later Carl Sagan, claimed that the "Samurai Crab" (heikegani) is an example of evolution in action, and people ate up this concept — but not the crabs.

Samurai statue image credit: Pixabay/Samuele Schirò

In their efforts to dismiss our Creator, Huxley and Sagan claimed that natural selection was at work because superstitious Japanese fisherman threw the heikegani back into the water because they resembled samurai warriors. The samurai became the military ruling class and rose to prominence during medieval times. So, the crabs with the resemblance to samurai warriors were thrown back and kept reproducing.

People accepted this dishonest propaganda. I believe that is is partially based on authority because Huxley and Sagan were scientists. Being a scientists does not make someone right, pilgrim, but it impresses people who are unwilling to think critically. I gave a talk in a group at the liberal church I was attending on why we can trust the Bible. My liberal pastor father concluded the session with some remarks that destroyed all my work because he's the pastor. Authority is helpful when done properly, but can easily be an abuse of power.

We don't want to answer fools according to their folly so we are like them, but we do want to answer them so they are not wise in their own eyes (Prov. 26:4-5 ESV). I reckon that this resemblance to the samurai warrior in the crabs could be an instance of pareidolia. Also, this "example" of evolution is just desperation and wishful thinking. And which warrior group's armored face? From there, we can give the final stroke that eliminates the example altogether.

A number of iconic examples have been used over the years to convince people of evolution’s supposed validity.2 Despite them having been soundly rebutted (some by evolution-believing scientists as well), certain prize horses in the evolutionary ‘stable of ideas’ still persist in textbooks and other evolutionary presentations.

A lesser-known but quite sophisticated example has persisted in common evolutionary lore since 1952, when Julian Huxley (grandson of Charles Darwin’s ‘bulldog’, T.H. Huxley) published an article titled ‘Evolution’s copycats’.

His goal was to use an easily understood example of natural selection in action to explain its undoubted ability to cause creatures to adapt. Then he would extrapolate that idea to try and persuade his audience that all of life’s incredible design could be explained naturalistically.

To read the rest, click on "The Samurai Crab — Myth-information about natural selection."

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