Every thing has its beauty, but not everyone sees it. - Confucius
We dedicate this article in honor of our beloved Titilica, who, from her little, fed besides the beings of her species and peacocks.
Where does the beauty sometimes present in such ephemeral life forms come from?
You don't have to be an expert in the natural sciences to see that there is a universe of beauty in every direction we look. From the thousands of species of flowers with their color, shape and fragrance so varied, to the exuberance of the colors of the birds of paradise or the fish of the coral reefs, there is plenty of beauty everywhere.
We meet in nature two types of beauty: the inherent and the added. Inherent beauty, as its name shows, is directly related to the structure and functionality of an object or a being. In contrast, added beauty has nothing to do with the functionality of that object or being. It exists only to delight our eyes.
An example: the sparrow is beautiful in its own way. It has an inherent beauty that results from the way the little bird is made up. Even if its feathers are not highlighted by bright colors, even if the beak is a common one and the tail does not stand out by something particular, the sparrow is still a beautiful bird. She has an inherent beauty.
In contrast to the little sparrow, birds of paradise excel in beauty. Vivid colors, rich and varied plumage, everything speaks of added beauty, with no other role than to delight our eyes. An obvious example of added beauty is the peacock's tail.
The tail of the peacock (male) consists of an average of 200 feathers that fall and grow again each year. Of them, about 170 are feathers with the drawing of the eye, and about 30 are T-shaped feathers.their length varies from a few cm to 1.5 m, being among the most brightly colored and longest feathers in nature. When unfolded, the peacock's tail becomes a huge fan in which the brightly colored eye feathers are perfectly and evenly framed by the T-shaped feathers.
It is worth noting that the shades of the colors in the tail feathers are not pigmentation, but structural, being determined by the optical phenomenon called interference. The colors are iridescent, that is, they change depending on the angle of observation.
Also, analyzing the drawing of a feather with eyes, one can observe extremely precise mathematical drawings. The” pupil “of the eye is a cardioid of dark purple color, while the” iris " is an ellipsoid of blue color. These shapes are framed by another elongated ellipsoid of copper color, surrounded in turn by one or two green borders. The drawing of the” eye " in the peacock's tail is a digital drawing, since it is formed by the combined effect of several thousand segments.
In order to get to the amazing beauty of the peacock's tail, it is necessary to have a huge amount of information in the bird's genetic code. The drawing is so complex that scientists cannot explain the phenomenon enough, not knowing how many genes are responsible for producing this drawing. A simple and general calculation would lead to the conclusion that 20 genes are needed to transmit the information needed to make the drawing. But each gene usually consists of several hundred chemical units of information. So the 20 genes would represent several thousand chemical units of information.
According to the theory of evolution, this huge amount of information would have appeared gradually, due to genetic errors and due to sexual selection.
If probability theory in mathematics were applied to the possibility of all these complex genetic mutations, one would arrive at a tiny probability, close to zero. If you take into account the time it takes for all these mutations to occur, the Peacock should have an age that far exceeds that of the universe (according to the Big Bang Theory).
According to the theory of sexual selection proposed by Darwin in his book “The Descent of Man“ and accepted by most evolutionists, females prefer more beautiful males and, in this way, they will pass on their genes to their descendants. It is a fact recognized even by evolutionists that females (including peacock ones) do not appreciate aesthetics. Therefore, the preferences of a female should be based solely on instinct. However, instincts must be specified and stored in the genes of the female's genetic code, also called “preference genes”.
Therefore, for the theory of sexual selection to be true and sexual selection to work, it is necessary that the female has genes of preference for each beautiful trait of the male. However, all these genes must have arisen, according to the theory of evolution, through random genetic errors.
The beauty of the peacock makes it easier to stand out and move more slowly, being more vulnerable to predators. According to the theory of sexual selection, females will always prefer more and more beautiful males. But this beauty is becoming an increasing disadvantage in the struggle for survival. A peacock more and more beautiful will camouflage harder and will move with more and more difficulty, being disadvantaged compared to less “beautiful" males.
Even some evolutionists are forced to recognize that the presence of added beauty is a difficult problem for the theory of evolution. The peacock's tail simply defies the theory of natural selection. It is neither effective in the struggle for survival, nor useful, nor beneficial. On the contrary, it is a burden for the vulnerable male precisely because of his beauty. The only reason for the beauty of the peacock's tail is to delight the eyes.
Beauty is not an accident, not the fruit of blind and random genetic mutations, but the product of an intelligent designer who “makes every thing beautiful in its time” (Ecclesiastes 3: 11 pp.).
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