Evolution 2.0: Breaking the Deadlock Between Darwin and Design

by Perry Marshall

The Miracle of Evolution...and the Story Neither Side Wants You to Hear

Mired in politics and religion, Darwinists and Design advocates alike have missed the most amazing story in the history of science.

Battles rage between the two extremes. The truth is out there, but it is ignored. Why is no one talking about this? Evolution 2.0 presents evidence that’s exhaustively documented, yet rarely mentioned in debates about evolution.

Evolution 2.0 chronicles bestselling author Perry Marshall’s 10-year quest. This journey led him to a startling and remarkable discovery: a network of adaptive living systems—a “Swiss Army Knife” with five blades. That is, there are five amazing tools organisms use to alter their own genetic destiny.

The author pinpoints the central mystery of biology, offering a minimum $1 Million Technology Prize to the first person who can solve it.

Why Almost Everyone Is Wrong about Evolution (and It's Not Why You Think)

In one corner: Atheists like Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, and Jerry Coyne. They insist evolution happens by blind random accident. Their devout adherence to Neo-Darwinism omits the latest science, glossing over crucial questions and fascinating details.

In the other corner: Intelligent Design advocates like William Dembski, Stephen Meyer, and Michael Behe. Most defy scientific consensus, maintaining that evolution is a fraud.

There is a third way. Evolution 2.0 reveals experiments which prove that, while evolution is not a hoax, neither is it random nor accidental. Changes are targeted, adaptive, and aware. You’ll discover:

*How organisms re-engineer their genetic destiny in real time
*Amazing systems living things use to re-design themselves
*Every cell is armed with machinery for editing its own DNA
*An award offer for answering the greatest question in all biology: Where does genetic information come from?
*70 years of scientific discoveries—of which the public has heard nothing!

This book will open your eyes and transform your thinking about life, evolution, and God. You’ll gain a deeper appreciation for our place in the universe. You’ll see the hand at the end of your arm as you’ve never seen it before.

Genres: Science, Biology, Evolution, Nonfiction, Religion, Philosophy, Theology

300 pages, Hardcover

First published August 18, 2015

About the author

Perry Marshall is endorsed in FORBES and INC Magazine and is one of the most expensive business consultants in the world. Clients in 300 industries value his capacity to integrate sales, technology, art and psychology.

He founded the $10 million Evolution 2.0 Prize, staffed by judges from Harvard, Oxford and MIT. He aims to solve the #1 mystery in Artificial Intelligence and the origin of life itself.

His 80/20 Curve is a productivity tool in NASA's Jet Propulsion Labs at the California Institute of Technology, and his Google AdWords book laid the foundations for the $100 billion Pay Per Click industry. He's served as an expert witness for search advertising litigation.

Marketing maverick Dan Kennedy says, “If you don’t know who Perry Marshall is — unforgivable. Perry’s an honest man in a field rife with charlatans.”

He has a degree in Electrical Engineering and lives with his family in Chicago.

Reviews

[Kurt · Rating 1 out of 5]

I first ran across Evolution 2.0 because it kept popping up on my Facebook feed. At first, I had no earthly idea what the heck this book was supposed to be about. It seemed like half of the posts were genuinely trying to understand the mechanisms of evolution and the other half were trying to justify an intelligent design paradigm. After seeing several of these posts, I realized that the main drive of the author was actually the latter. Then after seeing all of the 5 star reviews on Amazon for this book, I felt an unusual need to read this book and offer my own critique (which is not something I typically do). After all, if Marshall felt the need to invade my Facebook feed, I see no reason to not offer my honest critique on his book.
As I neared the halfway point of this book, I began to realize a fundamental problem with trying to write a review of a book of this nature, and it's similar to trying to critic any intelligent design or creationist book. There simply is just too much wrong with it to try and offer any coherent counter argument in anything less than 50,000 words. So, I'll try to slim this down as much as possible, but I ask you to keep in mind that this is an abbreviated critique. There are many more problems with this book than I can even begin to offer here.
First off, I would offer that you, dear reader, consider why books, such as this, promoting intelligent design are never written by people who are actual experts in the field that they are writing about. Popular culture tries to often spin this as a good thing. It says that people who have an outsider's perspective can see things that people who have been “indoctrinated” in the discipline miss. That might have been true a hundred years ago when each particular field didn't contain quite the large body of information it currently does. Now days, you should be immediately suspicious of anybody advocating a complete paradigm shifts in disciplines in which they don't hold so much as a B.S. Unquestionably, Marshall has heavily researched this topic. But, don't be deceived into thinking that this is anything close to having research published and reviewed by people who are truly experts in their fields. Simple research allows one to conclude whatever they wish. Peer review forces one to defend one's argument from every angle. To drive this point home, at one point, Marshall mentions a critique offered to him about his ideas from a college linguists professor. You should ask yourself why he didn't offer his book up to similar critique by a professor of Evolutionary Biology, or if he did why he didn't bother to mention it.
Half of Marshall's argument is based in what he terms the five Swiss army knife blades of evolution. He seems to think that there's some kind of conspiracy around these driving factors of evolution—that the “establishment” doesn't want you to know about them. He sites as evidence that it isn't until their sophomore years that biology students even learn about them. Having received a B.S. In Biology myself, I can tell you exactly why this is the case. Your first year of Biology classes are a complete over-view of everything in Biology from Molecular Biology to Zoology to Botany to Taxonomy. There is no way any professor could ever squeeze in information about translocation, and symbiogenisis into the mix as well. However, rest assured, all of these topics are indeed covered in later semesters. Anybody who has a degree in Biology, and paid attention to their classes at all, is very well aware of these points that Marshall seems to think get simply brushed under the rug.
The truth is that Biology is a rather new science in the grand scope of things and scientists are still hotly debating what are the major driving factors in evolution. If you're interested in the subject at all, it's not hard to find any number of papers and books discussing these very topics and how much of an influence each factor may have had on evolutionary history. Epigenetics in particular has exploded as a discipline unto itself, and is considered by many to be as important a factor in evolution as the “random mutations” that Marshall tends to brush off as unproven (despite the fact that there is quite a bit of inductive evidence that this is indeed a driving factor of evolution).
Marshall's major problem is that he somehow seems to make this sudden leap in logic, saying that these forces seem to somehow indicate that there is an outside driving force behind the changes in a cell's DNA. I'll grant that maybe I missed something here, or didn't fully understand what he was saying. But, as far as I can tell, he offers no proof at all that anything that he describes here is dictated by anything other than happenstance. He simply makes the assertion that these things are directed by some kind of outside intelligence and hopes that you'll be willing to play along without questioning it. As far as I can tell, his only appeal is to assert the idea that nothing is truly random. But, if you do any amount of research on this topic, you'll find almost no scientists that are also making the claim that that means there is an outside force directing it either.
The other half of Marshall's argument seems to be that we know of no other way that code is written apart from an intelligent source. Therefore there must be an intelligent source behind our DNA. Marshall is careful not to explicitly make the connection that this intelligence must be God, but that is the implied take-home-message of all of this. Despite the fact that this is a God of the gaps argument in its most classic form, Marshall proceeds to write a chapter trying to justify why this isn't a God of the gaps argument. Yet once again, either I didn't understand what he was trying to say, or he simply wrote an entire chapter explaining why his God of the gaps fallacy was different than other God of the gaps fallacies.
I will admit that I did begin to feel somewhat connected to Marshall throughout the course of this book. It doesn't seem that long ago that I saw the world much as he does. I was trying desperately to mash my understandings of science (which I couldn't deny based upon everything I had learned about it) with my belief in a God (which I was rapidly finding I didn't have a lot of rational justifications for). I can tell you first hand, that the end result can only become wild leaps in logic and assumptions, which are complete violations of Occam's Razor.
So, I guess the long and short of it is this: If you're only goal is to read a book that will simply confirm your preexisting assumptions about the existence of God, by all means, go ahead and read Evolution 2.0. However, if you care about trying to understand what is most likely true about the nature of Evolution, I urge you to read something by someone who has actual credentials in the field, like Jerry Coyne, Neil Shubin, Ernst Mayer, or Stephen J. Gould.

[Joshua Russell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Evolution 2.0 is the chronicle of Perry Marshall (a Christian geek-genius) and his incredible journey into the heart of origin of life science. Chalked full of ruthless logic and painstaking microanalysis of cutting-edge lab science, this book will scourge your prejudices—be they from the atheist, agnostic, or faith-based perspective. To the open-handed thinker, this is an awe-inspiring deconstruction and respectful reconstruction of evolutionary thought that will leave you in a state of thoughtful wonder.

When Perry’s brother, a Christian missionary to China, lost his faith and challenged the logic of Perry’s Creationist belief system, Perry began a brutal, ten-year-long research-driven journey, through which he deconstructed his own basic faith paradigms and reconstruct them anew, based on hard science. In other words, instead of defending his prejudices, he destroyed them.

Perry Marshall is the sort of brave Christian thinker who is so committed to that which is empirically true, that he would abandon his faith, or aspects of his faith, if discovered to be wrong. In other words, he’s the sort of Christian [the sort of Person] we all should be: a critical thinker who is also committed to objective integrity. His hard-won book: Evolution 2.0 is as terrifying as it is refreshing and thought-provoking. Exhaustively supported from several of the most reputable minds in cellular and genetic biology, this book isn’t your typical Editorial drivel; it’s a tour-de-force of hard logic and lab science.

The only downside to this book is that it’s too forward thinking. Audiences will reel at the ruthless logic and lab science approach to the mechanics of evolution. To atheists, agnostics, and Christians clinging to secret prejudices and narrow dogma, this book will not please. My prediction: this brave and earnest analysis of evolution will trickle along for a few decades before it is rediscovered by a generation more tempered against the reactionary thinking of today’s culture and added to the canon of reformers who rescued Origin of Life Science from the brink.

[DrosoPHila · Rating 1 out of 5]

Perry Marshall isn't the first person to look at the ongoing public debate concerning science and religion and try to see past the superficial dichotomous shouting match between fundamentalist Christians and atheists. Indeed on this point, he is right; there is a spectrum of viewpoints (see Evolution vs. Creationism: An Introduction ).

Marshall isn't the first person to discount the possibility that one side might be (almost) entirely wrong, and the other (almost) entirely right, and come to the contrary conclusion that there must therefore be a middle way between the two, more or less down the middle.

Marshall isn't the first person to think that his own personal thoughts are insightful and need to be shared with the whole world. Since these contradict the established scientific consensus (see Why Evolution Is True ), he therefore presents himself as a perceptive oracle of truth which can be paraphrased as "I've got it right and all the experts have got it wrong". This seems to be a reasonably common psychological status, and it's one exhibited occasionally by scientists (the late Stephen Jay Gould springs immediately to mind), and celebrity businessman Donald J. Trump, and presumably others. [I'd welcome any additional comments on the psychology here].

Marshall isn't the first person to completely misunderstand the modern scientific theory of evolution by natural selection. It is easily and often misunderstood. He isn't the first person without any relevant qualifications in biology (or any remotely related subject) to make this mistake. He might be the first person who is an expert on online marketing to do so, though I doubt it. He certainly isn't the first person with an engineering degree to do so; indeed the frequency with which engineers fail to understand the basic principles of biology has been previously noted and labelled the " Salem hypothesis"). He isn't the first such person to write a book and then fail to submit his work for appropriate peer-review, where his basic and egregious errors would have been exposed.

What we have here is nothing new. It's yet another badly-written book on evolutionary biology by someone who doesn't know what he's talking about.

[Quintin Zimmermann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perry Marshall is an electrical and communications engineer and he brings an unique outsider's perspective to the age old question: Where do we come from?

Evolution 2.0 takes us on a logic driven journey into the opposing theories of Neo-Darwinism (evolution though random and accidental mutations) and Intelligent Design (evolution through an intelligent designer).

Perry Marshall has taken centuries of increasingly complex biological and scientific exposition and painstakingly distilled it into user-friendly, understandable language for his readers. Each chapter is conveniently followed by a Bullet Point Summary that updates and keeps track of the unfolding arguments.

I found the Five Blades of Evolution (namely, Transposition, Horizontal Gene Transfer, Epigenetics, Symbiogenesis and Hybridization) fascinating and highly illuminating. Perry Marshall cleverly explains these daunting scientific concepts in a understandable way, without dumbing it down.

Evolution 2.0 has greatly expanded my understanding of evolution and the raging divide.

[Ricky Magana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I needed this book. I didn't realize it but there were lots of questions steeping inside of me just below the surface that I was ignoring (I don't think Im alone in that either).

I've followed Perry's material for several years in the marketing space. He was a voice among thousands that finally helped make sense of the enormous overwhelm of information that is spewed on running a business. I've always appreciated Perry's ability to make seemingly complex material comprehensible in such a way that you find yourself saying;

"OH! THATS how it works. I finally GET it." *palm slap to the forehead

This book is no different. As a Christian there were (and are) tons of questions I have regarding human origins but haven't articulated well enough to actually find an answer. I know there are aspects on both sides of this debate that are flawed but I had no idea how to discern what was what ---nor did I have the time to research and find out what the "insider" information was that most laymen casually "youtubing" debates never gets to hear.

From the beginning Perry addresses these doubts that I (and I'm sure many have) about this debate because HE HAD THEM TOO.
The book carries on from there as a conversation (not a dry textbook) and lays out clearly the key beliefs on both sides. You then feel the fog begin to lift and can finally see what both sides are ACTUALLY arguing over.

You learn to clearly define what each side actually stands for and what are the points of contention.

You'll hear about about key discoveries in the evolution/ID debate both sides are failing to ever mention (and the implications of them).

You unearth aspects of evolution you've NEVER heard talked about in online discussions.

And you'll discover that Evolution and Darwinism are NOT THE SAME thing which will help you ask much better questions and provide clarity about these issues that you may have never had.

This isn't a Christian Anti-evolution Book. This isn't an Atheist attack on Intelligent Design. It's not tirade of confirmation bias at all.

Perry doesn't say "This is what I believe and this is how Im going to Prove it!"

This is an honest journey one man went on to find answers about BIG questions, no matter where it led him.

The cool thing is that what he found was COMPLETELY UNEXPECTED and more amazing than he ever would have imagined.

What he found changed how he approached his career as a Business maven and consultant (and it will do that me for me as well)

This is a paradigm shifting book that will not only help you settle some nagging and troubling questions about evolution but it'll actually change the way you approach problems you face (in life and career) by learning some amazing things about the very cells in your body.

I found myself constantly saying "Wow! I didn't know that!"

And finally, I realized that there were LOTS of things I blindly believed but never bothered to question.

If only for that reason, read the book.

[Eugene Ulrich · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some of us have been angry way too long.
Angry at both Darwinists and Young Earth Creationists for their mind-numbing arguments and cunning sleight of hand, twisting science and logic willy-nilly to suit their presupposed models of reality.
This book aims at both, straight between the eyes. God will have to forgive my guilty pleasure for watching both armies turn their weapons away from each other and point them at this new paradigm. A truth much greater and vastly more beautiful than either camp ever dared dream.
It’s no coincidence that the revolutionary gene editing technology CRISPR just got $120 Million in funding about the same time this book goes to print. The 2nd Renaissance may have just begun!
Whether a committed Young Earth Creationist or an avowed atheist, wear thick gloves when fighting this book, as you may want to do something useful with your hands someday!

[Paul Beauchemin · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW! Finished reading an advanced copy of Evolution 2.0 - a great read and beautifully laid out arguments and logic. Your subject matter expertise as well as your ability to tell stories made it hard to put down. I hope that non-engineering types enjoy and understand it as much as I did (I have an MS in Chemical Engineering and Statistics).

It may take decades for people to grasp this as with most new information that does not fit their paradigm though not to mention the polarized climate for discussions of this nature. I am super impressed that you were able to build a huge marketing business and develop this level of expertise (and raise a family!).

Some thoughts:

You lament not becoming a biologist in your discussion with the young girl but if you had become a biologist I suspect you might have not written this. I've worked with hundreds of brilliant PhD chemists and engineers at my company in the past 37 years. Only one that I've worked with has thought like an engineer. I suspect there is some fundamental differences in thought processing between engineers and other scientists. I sometimes think that only an engineer could have created the Universe!

My thoughts on Darwinian random evolutionary theory:

Statistics and probability make it unlikely but I can understand why its not productive for you to go down that route. I don't understand why, but most people (even scientists and engineers I'm sad to report) just do not get statistics. (And some have used the public's ignorance to distort other important science)

The Law of Entropy seems to provide proof that life created via random chemical reactions would not "evolve" to something higher. Yet life fights against entropy suggesting that there is purpose or a goal behind life. Even though living organisms do break down over time they create such a surplus of seed to continue on, it seems implausible that it's just chemical reactions. This suggests to me that this life force is outside of our conscious state.

I have always been mystified that if Darwinian random evolution is true, statistically there should be many more "bad" results compared to beneficial results, yet that is not observed in nature. Bad mutations are actually rare. There seems to be a preponderance of "good" mutations. If I buy a bag of seeds chances are pretty good that > 99.999% will develop a perfect plant. If they are under stress, chances are that they just don't grow - not that they create a "bad" mutation. I think your 5 blades describe why this is so - this was very insightful to me. Rather then create a bad mutation, cells purposely "know" how to evolve in a beneficial way.

This whole idea that our life is predetermined by chemical reactions seems quite absurd from my knowledge of chemistry. Chemicals have no intent, they just react per pre-ordained laws of physics. If person "X" comes into my life randomly and I change the direction and outcome of my life because of his or her influence, how can chemical reactions in my body have pre-determined that person X would enter my life?

In your 5 possibilities about where DNA came from many people chose Aliens. I think that the reason the claim that DNA code can only come from an intelligent designer is difficult for some people to swallow is that people see God as anthropomorphic. Other than the fact that both humans and God are "creators", I do not know that God is anthropomorphic.

It's pretty hard to fathom a Being that is omniscient, omnipresent, all powerful within the realm we live in. Even after 100 years few people really grasp quantum mechanics and its implications. So this type of God is well beyond what we can imagine.

Anyway - I think that this is a really important piece of writing and synthesis of ideas that needed to be presented. Great job

[Dan Mack · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have never read a book like this one! This is not a book on origins, it is a book on the miracle and beauty of design. And it is written for anyone with an open and curious mind, and anyone willing to honestly engage this topic.

I have read a number of books by Darwinists and Design zealots and I have historically felt weighted down by their personal ambitions, fears and / or dogmatic worldviews. It just feels like we have lacked the objectivity to have an honest discussion of what the facts are telling us. Until now.

Perry Marshall’s Evolution 2.0 offers a different voice to this battle weary topic. Perry – an engineer, entrepreneur and researcher of patterns, actually frames the discussion differently – choosing to detail what he discovered during his own personal period of discovery. His research uncovered the beauty and adaptive power of the cell – which can evolve quickly and purposefully – on purpose and by design. Perry also shares how cells & organisms have the internal power to edit or re-engineer itself when necessary. And this editing process occurs quite rapidly.

Most innovations and new models come from outsiders. Perry Marshall may be this outsider, bringing a fresh voice to the discussion of how and why we are changing.

I have read this book twice and have been both encouraged, excited and an amazed by his insights. This is a book worth studying.

[Derek Vasconi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of those rare books that truly can change a person's paradigm as it concerns the existence of God and all the stuff you may have learned in school regarding Evolution and how it potentially disproves the common ideas about how long we've been on this earth, how we all got here, etc. Perry proves the existence of God using evolution and a very basic but absolutely impossible to deny proof. It's absolutely incredible and something that really will make you rethink any ideas you have that go contrary to the existence of God. There will be no doubt in your mind after you read this book, and the best part is that Perry doesn't rely on faith or pie in the sky generalized thoughts that we've all heard before. He shows a very practical way to answer the question of a higher power, and convincingly so.
A must read, right up there with Man's search for meaning. It's truly an instant classic.

[Jano Cravioto · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book!

It is an eye opener. It si an easy and interesting way to explain how science and faith do not contradict each other but complement each other.

[Dale · Rating 2 out of 5]

Recommended by a friend for the science so feel bad about the two stars. The book is about an electrical engineer trying to come to terms with the science of evolution and his faith.

[Clarke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ideas & Knowledge Matter—that's why I'm glad to know how evolutions really works.

I love ideas and I'm more than a little concerned. Ideas are the fuel that drive breakthroughs and human progress. Ideas deliver access to the future.

Why am I concerned? Because too many scientist and regular people fervently believe in fiction. There's always been resistance to new ideas as people don't like change. Maybe it's the Internet or our short attention spans, but it seems like rigid, closed thinking has become the expected norm. The result is a severely limited future.

Why does this matter and what does it have to do with Evolution 2.0? Because Perry Marshall has written a disruptive book that's full of new ideas--the kind of new ideas that matter.

Every doctor that prescribes an antibiotic will tell you to be sure to take the full prescription. Otherwise, the germs will become resistant and you'll get sicker. Now, just how do the little buggers do that?

I thought the bacteria just kind of randomly changed until one of them happened to be resistant to the antibiotic. But that's not right and it's not even reasonable. It takes several minutes for bacteria to reproduce. Even with 100 generations in a day, it would still take a very long time for enough random changes to occur.

The way it really works is far more clever and interesting. The bacteria have the ability to get help from other micro-organisms. They actively seek tools to defeat the antibiotic, and when they find a solution, actually modify their own DNA. It's like a software patch to fix a bug. Now the bacteria is resistant and can pass resistance along to their offspring.

You might be thinking, "that is interesting, but not that practical." It turns out that there are ten times more bacteria inside each of us than there are actual human cells. All these processes are happening in our bodies every day. There's even research that's starting to show links between the bacteria in our gut and medical conditions like depression or obesity.

Personally, I'm a business entrepreneur. From Evolution 2.0, I've seen how nature solves competitive threats and maximizes opportunities. I can borrow nature's strategies to improve my thinking and my business. Learning how bacteria become resistant can help me protect my business from an unexpected new competitor. I just need to download the right patch.

Did I mention I love ideas? That's why I love Evolution 2.0. It's great knowing how things really work and how evolution really happens. And I can apply natures genius to make my life and business work better.

[Steven H · Rating 5 out of 5]

A “YOUNG EARTH CREATIONINST” AND ENGINEER FINDS A “RICHER CONCEPTION”

Author (and computer scientist/engineer) Perry Marshall wrote in the Introduction of this 2015 book, “Everything we know from computer science provokes a huge question: ‘How do you get a code without a coder?’ … ‘How can code write itself?’ These questions challenge the boundaries of science and religion.” (Pg. xxii) He goes on, “As I distanced myself from the extremes, I found myself reading more scientific papers and fewer popular books and websites… That science is what this book is about.” (Pg. xxiv)

He explains, “This is not a religious book… This is a science book, provoked by my burning question: If blind evolutionary forces can produce eyes and hands and ears and millions of species, then why don’t engineers use Darwinian evolution to design cars or write software?... Rather than brushing aside ‘ultimate questions,’ the new discoveries I was making only served to intensify and reframe ancient questions that lie at the boundary between science and religion. Where did life come from? Where do we get our ability to think and choose? In this book you’ll discover vital principles from the information sciences that neatly explain why… Darwinism is still plagued with problems, never able to silence its critics… You’ll also find that the Creationists and ID advocates leave out vital parts of the story: Darwinists underestimate nature, and Creationists underestimate God.” (Pg. xxiv-xxv)

He adds, “In this book, I offer a … brand new paradigm for biology. I will show you that scientists create new species in the lab every day, and I’ll show you how they do it. I’ll also demonstrate that to the extent science can prove anything, science proves design in DNA. In other words, I’ll prove that BOTH SIDES, the Creationists and the Darwinists, are right.” (Pg. xxvi)

He recalls, “I realized … [that] my belief in God was connected to my sense that the cosmos and the human body itself could not possibly be here without a Designer… My drive came from the belief that there had to be some fort of mathematical formula or underlying foundation that would demonstrate the possibilities of evolution, and show its limitations… the remaining force that kept me from sliding into atheism was my engineering instincts… I was going to let science and engineering answer this question for me.” (Pg. 6-7)

He notes, “I never found a radiation mutation experiment that definitively produced a useful new feature that wasn’t already there. I hunted for a Darwinian explanation for this… Strangely, I could not find one… In later chapters, you’ll see many fascinating experiments where new mechanisms do develop in the lab---fast… However, radiation-induced mutations always appear to be neutral and usually harmful… Could that mean that when fruit flies adapt, they don’t transform through random copying errors, but instead by some other mechanism?... I needed to find out.” (Pg. 33-34)

He observes, “Yes, there is surely some vanishingly small number of beneficial mutations that were generated by random accidental copying errors. But there’s no way to be certain they were random… In other words, one scientifically untestable theory (‘an intelligent designer created new species’) has bene duking it out with another scientifically untestable theory (‘the mutations that create new species are random and accidental’). It is impossible for science to validate either assertion. So our deadlock between Darwin and Design shouldn’t be all that surprising.” (Pg. 75)

He explains, “If you major in biology, you will eventually study Transposition… I found there are two versions of evolution: There’s real-world evolution practiced by scientists and medical researchers. And there’s a largely fake, dumbed-down version that they bicker about in bookstores and Kansas school board meetings… Transposition, it turned out, was just the teeny, tiny top of a huge iceberg. Transposition may be the most common system of evolutionary development, but it’s not the only one. And every single one of these mechanisms is modular, contextual, and follows formulaic patterns.” (Pg. 91)

He suggests, “Are cells sentient? I truly do not know the answer… Perhaps it’s not a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer. Perhaps living things have various degrees of self-awareness… Evolution is ultimately driven by cells’ desire to multiply, to fill the Earth, to use every available resource to its maximum potential, and to populate every ecological niche with fantastic beauty and diversity.” (Pg. 112)

He outlines 5 evolutionary processes: “1. Epigenetics; 2. Transposition; 3. Horizontal Gene Transfer; 4. Hybridization; 5. Symbiogenesis… And what happens when we combine Transposition (cells rearranging their own DNA), Horizontal Transfer (cells exchanging DNA), Epigenetics (organisms passing acquired traits to offspring through cells switching DNA sequences on and off), and Symbiogenesis (organisms merging together) with Genome Duplication (two species merging to form a third)?... we can in principle get from any one spot on the tree of life to any other. Also remember the retrovirus… which leads to organisms borrowing code from code inserted into the virus’ own DNA… Most important, what we’ve learned about Evolution 2.0 is: *It’s not slow or gradual; it’s fast. *It’s not accidental; it’s organized. *It’s not purposeless; it’s adaptive. *Natural selection isn’t the star of the show; natural Genetic Engineering is.” (Pg. 144) He summarizes, “Evolution 2.0 is… the cell’s capacity to adapt and to generate new features and new species by engineering its own genetics in real time.” (Pg. 145)

He wonders, “Do cells read their DNA?... Might they have the ability to locate advantageous instructions from other cells’ DNA and add those instructions to their own genome? If so, then organisms would evolve their bodies by evolving their FNA language first. How might they ‘know’ how to do this? Currently our understanding of this is very limited. However, we are beginning to clearly see what cells do.” (Pg. 169)

He concludes, “All this further persuaded me that all we presently know about Origin of Life clearly infers a designer. I cam to this conclusion because of the utter absence of any chemical explanation for Origin of Information. The logical inference was: (1) The pattern in DNA is a code, (2) all the codes whose origin we know are designed, so (3) therefore we have every reason to believe DNA is designed. None of the thousands of people I interacted with offered hard evidence to support any other explanation.” (Pg. 194)

He admits, “I’d been raised a young Earth Creationist, and had initially been inoculated against these fascinating truths. I had to grow up and embrace a more nuanced understanding of God and nature.” (Pg. 248) He continues, “I had to outgrow my youthful notions of God. The six-day Creationist God I grew up with gave way to a richer conception of the Divine, that of a master programmer who would spin a strand of code that fills the whole Earth with beauty… The God I imagined as a child yielded to one who weaves a complex story, a story not just for children but for adults, a grand epic tale. A God who invested himself into that tale by creating human beings in his image… One who beckons us to live in the tension of paradox and mystery.” (Pg. 265)

This is a creative approach to creation/evolution issues, that will be of great interest to those studying such matters.

[Heather Angus-Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a lifelong book nerd, science and tech lover and, more recently, a seeker of spiritual truths, I have a solid appreciation of this book. Perry Marshall cuts through what he calls ‘Evolution 1.0” – both when Charles Darwin unlocked Pandora’s box and, in the 20th century, the Neo-Darwinism that clouded evolution further. Perry’s Evolution 2.0 theory is carefully unfolded throughout the book, with consistent reinforcement of the substantiating biological evidence he cleverly calls the 6 blades of evolution’s swiss-army knife. (Perry can be a very entertaining and original writer – a well received quality in a science book).
But Perry takes a big step up over any other scientific theory books. He doesn’t want passive readers; he wants active challengers – and so he throws down a gauntlet by offering a mult-million dollar prize to prove his Evolution 2.0 theory is true. Perry makes no bones about the fact that he desires the outcome to be that there is a designer of the universe (he calls it God, but he isn’t stuck on labels)– but he wants more to be proven wrong if that can be done.
Using Perry’s own benchmark that ‘sloppy language leads to sloppy thinking,” I would say his book is a success. He is very careful to avoid the kind of murky thinking of neo-Darwinists who toss around the term ‘randomness’ without nailing down what it means as it relates to mutations and how to rationalize it with the fact that randomness is noise and noise never creates, only destroys. (A sample of Perry’s line of thinking.)
However, although Perry had me at ‘design’ he lost me at ‘personal god.’ I have a real problem with his chapter “What about all the pain and suffering in the world?” near the end of the book. It feels like a superfluous, not to mention ineffective, appendage on an otherwise compelling scientific argument. I suppose he backhandedly wanted to say that if this question is keeping the reader from embracing faith, then it is not a good enough reason – but really, why would he wade into this wooly area when his strength is empirical stuff?
Overall, a very important book, a good read and a game changer in our painfully divided science vs. faith culture. A must-read for anyone curious about life now, then and ahead of us.

[Glass Half Full · Rating 1 out of 5]

10 years of research = 10 years of wasted time

The theological bent on this is unbecoming. Any attempt at refuting neo-Darwinism, which in itself is flawed, is laden with appeals to miracles. In the sense that could be called Mysterianism (not to be confused with New Mysterianism). The primary problem of this book is that its research obviously followed the rule of verificationism to the letter, and relied on a combination of decent critique of the neo-Darwinian position and strawman interpretations of the neo-Darwinian position. Perry Marshall's lack of expertise notwithstanding. I do not think his expertise matters in this case, but it points to a ton of confirmation bias, while he claims that he is only looking for the truth wherever it may lead; it seems that is not the case with his methodology. This author's position is merely an evolutionary biology perspective mixed with apologism for creationism. No deadlock is broken with this book. In fact, the deadlock is much stronger because of it. If one must have faith and be truthful in science, one *must* renounce any notion of a specific narrative of theology or any version of a God, and must get themselves into a "culturally Christian or culturally *insert religion* deism" but without the clockwork universe, and must repudiate Sir Fred Hoyle for his delusion, and must accept an epistemology that is critical rationalist or Peircean fallibilist, but not necessarily empiricist. If anything, Perry Marshall can easily be added to the list of the world's most decorated charlatans.

[Shelhorowitzgreenmkt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I almost didn’t bother reading this book. I ordered it thinking it would be another of Marshall’s classic big-think business books, like the brilliant 80/20 Sales and Marketing (read my review at https://thecleanandgreenclub.com/the-...).

It’s certainly a big-think book, but not a business book. When I realized it was actually about biological evolution, I put it aside for a few years. But I’m really glad I finally read it. Evolution 2.0 is one of the most important, most provocative books I’ve ever read.

Marshall was raised in a belief system called “Young Earth Creationism”: a literal interpretation of the Old Testament creation story. But he’s an engineer with extensive knowledge of science, and he has absolutely no problem with recognizing that the Biblical timeframe is nothing like what actually happened, absolutely no problem with endorsing evolution, strongly. But he wants to find ways of reconciling the scientific evidence with Christian belief systems, even the Young Earth variety. And he obviously spent many years on this project. It’s incredibly thoroughly researched, with not only a 12-page index and a 5-page annotated reading list, but a 15-page, 9-section, tiny-type comprehensive bibliography referencing each of the hundreds of footnotes, along with a page+ of illustration and photo sources in even smaller print.

While it’s not typical of books I review, I think it’s extremely relevant to modern business. Some of Marshall’s principles even translate directly to actionable insight for social-impact businesses specifically, such as the idea I’ve often espoused about the advantages of cooperating with your “competitors”: collaborating, rather than competing. And if you’re the first to prove one particular conclusion wrong, Marshall has put together a group of funders who would buy your IP rights for eight figures.

Parts I-IV make a very strong case for rethinking evolution: While traditional Darwinism, and especially neo-Darwinism, say evolution occurs very slowly, only when the occasional beneficial mutation pops up and is advanced by natural selection, Marshall—sharing data from dozens of prominent scientists, mathematicians, and even theologians—convincingly argues that it is not driven by random mutations, which create noise. Noise is destructive, never constructive. In Marshall’s view, DNA is a code, a language of instructions that gets decoded in the opposite order that it was encoded, just like the commands we give a computer or the letters we write on a page. Any cell already contains far more instructions than anything humans have built, and those cells will act to further the entity’s goals such as survival or reproduction.

Evolution can happen in something very close to real time. It may be repeated by cells across different organisms (which simply would not occur randomly). And it typically harnesses one or more techniques that he compares to a five-bladed Swiss Army knife:

1. Transposition
2. Horizontal gene transfer
3. Epigenetics
4. Symbiogenesis (this is the cooperation principle that I love)
5. Genome duplication (at speed)

Each of these gets an initial chapter explaining it, and then is referenced many times as he builds a case for a complex system able to create new societies and even new species. It’s fascinating reading.

Marshall casually positions viruses as a potential sixth blade in the last line of his list of recommended book (p. 337). Viruses don’t get a chapter, though they get several mentions. I suspect if he were writing it now, he would elaborate more, as we’ve watched the coronavirus (Covid) spread rapidly and reinvent itself several times in new variants with different behaviors, even though it was only discovered late in 2019.

The second half of the book attempts to reconcile science with Christianity. Marshall believes that any system with coding and decoding, error correction, redundancy, and other features common to languages, codes, technology, and DNA has to have a designer; this much intelligence had to be set in motion, even if it becomes self-evolving later. And it’s true that the natural world (including the bacterial world) has skills we humans only dream about. I often touch on biomimicry—the use of science to imitate nature—in my speeches and writings. The humblest green plant collects and disseminates solar energy far more efficiently than any human-designed system. The GPS of a migrating butterfly or salmon far outstrips human devices. In my TEDx talk, “Impossible is a Dare,” I even say, “if you want to know about bridge-building, ask a spider; they know more than we do.”

Marshall reconciles the calendar issue with something I’ve seen many times before: just because something is labeled a day doesn’t mean it’s 24 modern hours. Each “day” of creation could be millions of years—and by his complex calculation, this corresponds well to both the Big Bang and the Biblical chronology (p. 325). But one insight is new to me: all of human history could be within the 7th day of creation (p. 316)—the day God rested, leaving us critters to figure things out using the codes we were given or that we evolved.” What if we understood God to be an engineer so skilled that he endows cells with the ability to engineer themselves?” (p. 331).

But here’s the thing he doesn’t address: He spends quite a bit of time on the idea that no sophisticated code exists without a designer, and that God’s design skills far exceed our own. BUT—and I don’t have an answer for this and doubt Perry Marshall does either—where did the designer come from? By his own logic, it couldn’t have just appeared.

Because this book is so ambitious, dare I say so “cosmic,” I’ve focused my review on the big concepts. I’ve written almost 1000 words and barely looked at my seven pages of notes. I could easily get into the weeds and write another 1000 or more on specifics that I agree with, disagree with, or question. But I’ll just urge you to read it and draw your own conclusions.

[Alan Fuller · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Charles Darwin wrote his "Origin of Species," cells were considered gobs of goo. Recent discoveries like Epigenetics, Transposition, Horizontal Gene Transfer, Hybridization, and Symbiogenesis show how obsolete the Neo-Darwinian ideas about random mutation are. However, this new knowledge is often rejected because it overturns entrenched norms, popular beliefs, and accepted paradigms. Atheists have an agenda to omit any scientific detail that reveals the purposeful, real-time adaptations of living things. Author Perry Marshall discusses these ideas and others in his book. However, the theology appendix was a little disappointing to me.

[Rasti Ali · Rating 1 out of 5]

This pithy book is somehow illogical. The way I understand evolution, the mechanism is somehow designed but this is not a sign of god or supernatural agent or anything similar. Intelligent design can't explain mutation so "Why the hell mutation happens during cell division that cause thousands of diseases. Is this somehow designed Perry ?

[Jesús Gz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible book. It's just amazing what the cell does!

You really should read this and find out many things that you didn't know about how evolution ACTUALLY works.

All codes are designed and DNA is a code, therefore DNA is designed!

[Tarek · Rating 5 out of 5]

I postponed reviewing this book for a long time. So far, I'm impressed by the author and think everything he said here holds ground. A must read if you're in this dilemma and are scientifically oriented, but you don't have to be. Each chapter built on the one before it.

[Denis · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the religious debate surrounding the origin of living things on earth, there are three major viewpoints: Creationism (God did it), Darwinian Evolution (time and random mutations did it) and Intelligent Design (time and natural selection did it, but outsourced the hard bits to God). (Please forgive my gross oversimplifications of these highly complex subjects). The book, Evolution 2.0 by Perry Marshall, while tilting toward the latter of these three, offers a fresh perspective that both sheds light and creates further questions.

The author, not a trained biologist, comes at the problem through the disciplines of engineering and information theory, something that he is qualified to speak on.The fact that he is not trained is not an outright reason to reject his arguments. Rather than play the “argument from authority card”, I say “let’s see what he has to say and judge his reasoning by its own merits”. Marshall, himself, acknowledges that he is an “outsider”, however he sites examples of previous outsiders, such as Bill Gates, who brought about massive disruptions in areas where they had little or no “official” authority.

Marshall’s main thesis is that the DNA molecule is information in a highly organized, complex code form complete with its own rules for syntax and semantics and therefore it shows evidence of design. He maintains, therefore, that random mutations are insufficient to explain how living things have evolved. He refers to an experiment to see if any beneficial mutations could be induced in a population of fruit flies by exposing them to radiation. As no beneficial mutations were found after 600 virtual years he concludes that the radiation created nothing other than “noise” in the genome of the fruit flies. Instead, he maintains that there is evidence that they were actually able to repair damage to their DNA caused by the radiation.

He goes on to explain how there are five sophisticated mechanisms at the cellular level that allow cells to adapt and change their DNA in real time. These include transposition, horizontal gene transfer, epigenetics, symbiogenesis, and gene duplication. He spends considerable time explaining each. Rather than attributing evolutionary changes to random mutations, he posits that cells show evidence of “intelligently” rearranging their genetic information in order to be better adapted to be surviving by natural selection.

The author also spends considerable time and effort on the problem of the origin of life. He asserts that the current thinking on this field sheds little light on this mystery. A leading authority on evolutionary theory, Richard Dawkins, maintains that the origin of life (i.e. the first DNA molecule) was nothing more than a “happy chemical accident”. In Marshall’s view, this is nothing more than speculation, based on that the dogmatic assumption that the universe is devoid of both design and a designer. While Marshall is unable to provide scientific specifics about how life originated on earth, he is confident that the complexity and intelligence evident in DNA point to evidence of design.

The book culminates with something rather unusual. Marshall, true to his scientific methodology, seeks to have his theories disproven. In fact he is even offering a reward to anyone who can provide evidence that his theory is incorrect. In the spirit of the X Prize Foundation, Marshall has set up a competition which will reward any person or persons that can provide evidence of spontaneous intelligence arising from one or more chemical reactions. Based on the idea that this artificial intelligence would provide untold benefits for humankind, he has found venture capitalists that would pay ten million dollars in exchange for the patents on such a process. If for some reason, the process is not patentable, Perry is offering one hundred thousand dollars of his own money as a prize!

I will leave it to people smarter than me to decide whether or not Perry Marshall offers irrefutable evidence that upsets the traditional neo-Darwinian model of evolution, however I found his book highly readable, informative and thought provoking. While his explanations of the five “Swiss Army knife” processes that are involved in DNA change was engaging, I was particularly drawn in by the relation of DNA and information theory. I also found his critique of the current thinking on the origin of life to be apt, particularly with his assessment of the Dawkin’s thoughts. And finally his offer of a prize for disproving his work is evidence of the author’s integrity and commitment of following the evidence, wherever it may lead.

[Gaurang · Rating 2 out of 5]

I just finished this book and 7 days prior to that, I was reading “From Bacteria to Bach and Back: The Evolution of Minds” written by Daniel C. Dennett. The true intentions behind both of books are contradictory. Daniel C. Dennett wants to make the point that evolution is true as Darwin proposed it, the idea of “Competence without Comprehension”; while Perry Marshall finds it hard to believe that without comprehension such competence could be achieved no matter how much time evolution had.

Coincidentally, I was reading another book, “The knowledge illusion”; parallel to these books. This book was about human brain working, thinking patterns, cognitive biases in thinking, the illusion of knowing something in deep, ignorance towards system and limitation of an individual, etc. So, these three books, two of them are kind of contradicting and the last one to keep eye on them. Some worth mentioning quote from the third book;

“We may be better at causal reasoning than other kinds of reasoning, but the illusion of explanatory depth shows that we are still quite limited as individuals in how much of it we can do.”

“The brain was not designed by computer engineers. It was shaped by the forces of evolution to solve specific kinds of problems, and remembering tons of details doesn’t help achieve that”

“Just as people don’t think only associatively (as Pavlov thought we do), people do not reason via logical deduction. We reason by causal analysis. People make inferences by reasoning about the way the world works”

Now back to “Evolution 2.0”

In my opinion; Perry Marshall, a curious electrical engineer, is too obsessed with computer codes and their working mechanism while making analogy between DNA codes and computer codes. To me, he seems too overconfident while talking about various mutations, DNA code copying, copying errors, replications and other aspects of evolution. Take this example, an excerpt from this book;

“One of the callers asked Dawkins about the Origin of Life. He replied that it was “a happy chemical accident.”
A happy chemical accident?
What kind of answer was that? And this is Oxford’s “Professor of the Public Understanding of Science”?!
What if Isaac Newton had watched the apple fall out of the tree, and instead of formulating a theory of gravity, he had proclaimed it a happy accident? I was shocked Dawkins didn’t get laughed right out of the studio.”

Perry fails miserably while attempting to understand intricate thing like origin and fate of life on earth. He is making the inference by common sense, computer codes working and reasoning about the way digital information system works. Maybe that's why he wants to laugh on Dawkins’s answer and making absurd compared with Newton-apple-gravity thing. If someone asks you about the origin of Einstein’s success story, “happy accident” might be the possible correct answer as the particular spermatozoon succeeded out of million others and lead to the birth of Einstein.

You cannot make an exact analogy between different systems and rely on your common sense while talking about things like the origin of life. We all know what happens with common sense and analogies when you are talking about quantum physics. Human brain even cannot imagine and digest the finding of quantum physics, but things are consistent with the right set of experiments.

It's yet another badly-written book on evolutionary biology by someone too overconfident and wants to explain things by making absurd analogies; who doesn't know the seriousness of topic in hand.

[Kristin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author is an electrical engineer whose personal interest in faith and science ultimately led him to write this book, a redefining of the theory of evolution as driven not by random mutations but by the ability of cells to rewrite their own DNA under stress. Marshall's engineering lens leads him to the conclusion that DNA is code, in a literal sense, and he makes a good case for this, though it leads to what will be a pretty inflammatory conclusion for most: that the existence of DNA points to a designer.

I must admit, I disliked the book from the get-go based on the title alone. The word "Design" was enough to make me assume this was going to be a God-of-the-Gaps cop-out, along the lines of Intelligent Design proponents. But my dad's recommendation caused me to press on beyond the title (thanks Dad), and gradually I felt my suspicion turning to fascination as the book delved into the five "Swiss-Army Blades" of Evolution: transposition, horizontal gene transfer, epigenetics, symbiogenesis, and genome duplication. This is by far the strongest section of the book, as Marshall takes us through well-cited explanations of the science of each mechanism, each of which demonstrate that cells actively edit their own genomes. Natural selection remains as the selecting agent for successful organisms, but the striking difference between what Marshall calls "Evolution 2.0" and Neo-Darwinism (ie. the old-school theory of evolution you will encounter in any biology textbook) is that the choices offered up to natural selection do not arise through the blind force of random mutations, but through the nonrandom products of cellular rearranging, swapping and merging.

The part about DNA literally being code is central to Marshall's thesis. The concept of entropy (borrowed from information theory) helps explain why the random mutation theory isn't plausible: noise (almost) always causes a loss of information, not an improvement.

The reason this is such an unpopular idea, even with all the scientific research backing up the Swiss-Army blades, is that the conclusion that DNA must come from a designer is anathema to proponents of Neo-Darwinism. In my opinion, Marshall would have done better to put less emphasis on the design part of his argument (much less put it in the title) as it goes beyond the purview of what is chiefly a book about science. His attempts to critique both hardcore atheists and young-Earth Creationists, in the same book, diminish the potential impact of this book (though it does make it fit into a more unusual niche than most books I've read). Why not just point out the limits of scientific inquiry and leave it at that? Dragging in appendices addressing reinterpretations of Genesis and the problem of evil felt out of place, as well as beyond Marshall's scope.

The writing style, and inclusion of all kinds of egotistical anecdotes, were a source of endless irritation (Chapter 8 is just a story of his friend meeting a famous dude from the history of computers in a coffee shop- so unnecessary, and not even that impressive). Repeated reminders that the author knows a lot about speakers, and appreciates jazz. Endless recounting of written sparring matches conducted online. This guy's annoying personality really tries to eclipse what is potentially a paradigm-shifting argument, and I don't think that is going to help the reception of his book. I would give the central thesis of this book five stars, but unfortunately, the Perry factor brings it down to three.

[Paul Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though I don't agree with the conclusions Marshall achieves his discussion is clear and well researched.
Starting in Chapter 12 Marshall begins to unfold his real arguments and they are compelling. Without going over each them in detail here I'll present the parts of his 5-blade “Swiss Army Knife” analogy.
1. Transposition – DNA repairs damage by replacing broken parts with replicable sections in other chromosomes. The repairs lead to changes in the DNA, mutations, that can change or improve the DNA creating offspring with these changes. (pg 109)
2. Horizontal Gene Transfer – seen mostly in single celled organisms, genes can be passed between cells allowing the receiving cell to achieve the benefits of the supplying cell. (pg. 123)
3. Epigenetics – The process of genes switching on and off portions of code to change what kind of cell grows. (pg 140)
4. Symbiogenesis – One type of cell merging with another to create a symbiotic relationship and, eventually, an organelle. (pg 146)
5. Genome Duplication – Two species reproduce off-spring with hybrid genomes from each parent. (pg 155)
Before we go further, I would like to add the following:
Each of Marshall’s arguments are accurate and correct in the mechanism he presents. This is not debated. Much of it is new, historically speaking, and like many new ideas some of them were disregarded for long periods. That’s scientific politics for you. It happens, unfortunately. To say it is not taught, as he claims several times, is not correct. It is NOT taught at the “elementary” level because of scaffolding. Unless the student is extremely bright throwing all of the vagaries of evolution out in one fell swoop is like throwing an anchor to a drowning swimmer. The processes of transposition, epigenetics and horizontal gene transfer are covered in High School Biology and I have personally touched upon them in Middle School science. They are as well-known as any other facets of genetic study.
What Marshal has constructed are the mechanisms through which “random” mutations take place. I, for one, never thought that random mutation meant radiation altering DNA. Though Spiderman, the Hulk and Godzilla make for great fiction. No one [scientists] believed it was really possible. This is a pretty complete list but there may be other mechanisms that cause changes in DNA that we are unaware. If you do or have read Evolution 2.0 you will undoubtedly be struck by the rich assortment of examples the author brings to the table. I will accept without debate, that the examples are valid. The presumption is that each time one of these operations is brought to bear on a genome, it is successful. Herein lies the problem. How many transpositions, epigenetic switches, gene transfers, symbiogenetic pairings and gene duplications occurred that were not successful. We have no way of knowing. Like the online huckster trying to sell you his program, after spending nauseatingly too many words repeating himself, shows the testimonials of his clients bragging about their success. You only see the successes. Just as in evolution. We can only see the winners. The failures never made it out of the starting gate. This is what random means. Perry uses his evidence with the most predominant form of confirmation bias to claim Intelligent Design.
Marshall continuously returns to human codes and processes to defend that DNA, which is indisputably a code, must have been designed because human codes are designed. A code must have a designer. In effect this is his foundational argument. It should be understood that the “rules” governing many of the “codes” he uses as examples are conventions, agreed upon by the users. Language, grammar, and syntactics are not laws of nature. Computer languages are not governed by any rules other than those considered necessary by the programming language creators. DNA, on the other hand, must abide by laws of nature. The chemistry and physics of the elements and molecules must be obeyed in DNA processes.
Another of Marshall’s claims is that the DNA “knows” what it is doing. It adapts through a built-in knowledge of what the Natural Selection pressures are and moves to counteract them. This idea is spurious at best. Our language cannot change itself, nor can any engineering design, computer program or automated manufacturing device. It takes a direct intervention by the designer. The implication is that the Natural Intelligent Designer is actively working with the DNA to make the correct revisions. This is a tough sell.
Removing the divine from the equation there is a way to use a multiverse hypothesis I have proposed. How could the DNA code have developed without the hand of God? Feedback. Marshall’s in-depth research into the mechanisms of DNA “self-editing” are a stepping-stone. There is a “designer”, just not a particularly intelligent one. If God is creator of the universe, then it was an enormous experiment set into action much as Descartes’s watchmaker god was inspired by Newtonian mechanics. The chief difference is God, IE the Universe, did not know how to make anything. Every instant is quantumly entangled with every other instant in its past. This is definitely speculative but with this type of feedback from “future” events the experiments in the past could receive information about successes and duplicate them in alternative “timelines”. This is why DNA is effective in generating lucrative adaptations. It works like machine learning in that when something works it is kept and when it does not it is discarded. The method works within timelines the same way. Bad, ineffectual or dead-end adaptations die off. The ones that are successful grow. We only see the ones that succeed. It makes DNA appear to be a genius at creating useful adaptations.
DNA may be transposing, duplicating, switching, merging or transferring genes all of the time but it does not know which ones will work. The ones that do… survive. This is the heart of randomness in Natural Selection. It is a teleology in that the universe performed its billions of years old experiment in an effort to create an entity that could describe it. To say that it did so with the prior knowledge of how the experiment would turn out denies the science of the universe.
To say randomness is noise and noise destroys implies that cloud formations, colors of the sunset, and heights of mountain peaks are destroying something. Beauty is not destruction. Fractals can build natural-like structures, but they are not natural. They have a pattern. Nature does not. It is random in every striking way we can imagine. We may deeply appreciate the symmetry in a face but even the golden ratio is an approximation. Faces, beautiful or not, do not have “perfect” proportion, they cannot. It would be unnatural.

[Craig Becker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was great for the science it introduced. I especially enjoyed learning about the 5 Blades of what he called the Swiss Army Knife of Evolution; 1. Epigenetics; 2. Transposition; 3. Horizontal Gene Transfer; 4. Hybridization; and 5. Symbiogenesis. The book taught me about our fantastic ecosystem and helped me understand related science. I also liked how he made the 5 blades real. For example, he showed how we adapt just as our cells adapt. For instance, our businesses can adapt by reorganizing departments, using or not using parts of the business, moving parts to work on other areas, and or combining our business with another business to create a new business. In essence, that is how evolution works.

I especially liked that he helped me remember and better understand how cooperation, not competition and survival of the fittest, is the most important driving force for progress. As noted, competition can only subtract. It only removes and cannot create for all. Cooperation can create and find better ways. I was most impressed with what I learned about Margulis's work on symbiogenesis, which I will now endeavor to understand more about.

However, I was unconvinced about his information and did not agree there must be a designer. I adhere to Lovelock & Margulis's Gaia hypothesis that Earth is one living system to which all contribute. Despite my reservations, this book helped me think through and learn much about evolution and science related to our living ecosystem. I recommend this book and its related podcasts, as long as you will overlook his jump in logic to a designer.

[Josiah Richardson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marshall, an engineer, looks at the future of evolutionary sciences and makes the argument that evolution and engineering can be very conveniently combined. A Swiss army knife of sorts is formed with five different tools that we can use to see this engineered science happen. The five blades of this paradigm are epigenetics, transposition, horizontal gene transfer, hybridization, and symbiogenesis

Evolution 2.0 would look like using what we already have shown to be a clear and working model , the foundation if you will, and actually building with it. A lot of these ideas are already in the groundwork, with things like CRISPR and DICER and so forth. But Marshall envisions a much higher expectation with this science.

The title made me think that this would be a creation-evolution discussion, and while it speak on it peripherally, it was never the focus. The design in question is human design, not God's design. Marshall is a full believer in a divine designer, while still believing that the designer also designed the tools (evolution) to work with. But it was an interesting read, just not the sort of thing I would have picked up if I knew what the subject was actually focused on.

[Tiff Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating, informative look at evolution and the evidence of much deeper engineering inherent in cells from bacteria to plants to animals, from the perspective of an electrical engineer who had serious questions about his faith and about what he'd learned about evolution in school. The man did his homework.

Sometimes it gets hard to follow some of the technical details, but if you slow down, it comes together really well. It answers questions posed by both militant neo-darwinists and ardent young earth creationists respectfully, thoroughly, and (most importantly) WITH A SOLID BIBLIOGRAPHY. Everything is backed up by a wide variety of sources, so you don't have to take his word for it.

If you're an atheist, read it. If you're religious, read it. I promise that it will turn what you believe, either way, upside down.

[Dominik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, writing this as a scientist and a christian.

I was never a fan of either creationism or intelligent design, but over the last year after reading through a lot of critique of neodarwinism, I wasn’t sure what to think about all of it.

Clearly the evolution was present, however the most popular theory fell short to explain it. After some digging I found this book, it gets to nerves of either creationists/ID or neodarwinists, and therefore I like it.

Then I found https://www.thethirdwayofevolution.com/, I need to get through it - so no conclusions made yet.

Originally I would give this book 4/5 stars, but mentioning works of Claude Shannon and Norbert Wiener added the fifth star, as I am biased since I have PhD in cybernetics.

[Katie Brohard · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel like I just wrote this review for another book, lol. I agree with some. I disagree with some. If you choose to read this, I would recommend you use discernment. Sometimes I felt he was right on point; other times I felt he was disregarding or misinterpreting evidence/ideas on purpose to make them fit his theory where they really do not. Ultimately, I am not one of those people burdened with a desperate need to understand everything. I have no problem at all acknowledging that God might be able to do things I cannot begin to understand. By His very nature, that seems a given to me. If you are a person who struggles with this, this point of view may be very beneficial to you.

[Zachary Lawson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really interesting, if a bit cheesy at times. Here are the main takeaways. (1) “randomness” and “Goddidit” are equally unsatisfactory answers as both have no deeper explanatory mechanisms. (2) Evolution is much more powerful than either side wants to admit.

One really interesting claim is that the more sophisticated natural evolutionary mechanisms are found to be, the more difficult the origin of life question becomes.

It’s a good intro book to an under-discussed topic. However, I wouldn’t appeal to it as authoritative or scholarly. Mull the ideas over and dig into the footnotes.

3.3/5.0