Irreducible_complexity

# Irreducible complexity ## Links (Wikipedia order)  `ATP_synthase` · `Abalone` · `Access_Research_Network` · [[Adaptation]] · `Adaptive_immune_system` · `Alan_R._Rogers` · `Albert_Seward` · `Andrew_Pyle_(philosopher)` · `Answers_in_Genesis` · `Anthropic_principle` · `Aperture` · `Arch` · `Argument_from_ignorance` · `Ariel_A._Roth` · `August_Weismann` · `Australian_Broadcasting_Corporation` · `Axoneme` · `Baldwin_effect` · `Barbara_Forrest` · `Biological_pathway` · [[Biological_system]] · `Blind_spot_(vision)` · `C._S._Lewis` · `Cambrian_explosion` · `Cell_(biology)` · `Center_for_Science_and_Culture` · `Centre_for_Intelligent_Design` · `Centring` · `Charles_Darwin` · `Charles_Pritchard` · `Chicago_Tribune` · `Cicero` · `Cilium` · `Co-adaptation` · `Coagulation` · [[Computer_science]] · `Creation_Ministries_International` · `Creation_Research_Society` · `Creation_science` · `Creationism` · `Creationism's_Trojan_Horse` · `Cytoplasmic_male_sterility` · `DNA` · `Darwin's_Black_Box` · `Darwin_on_Trial` · `De_Natura_Deorum` · `Devonian` · `Discovery_Institute` · `Discovery_Institute_intelligent_design_campaigns` · `Duane_Gish` · `Dynein` · `East_Tennessee_State_University` · `Edwards_v._Aguillard` · `Elliott_Sober` · [[Emergence]] · `Epigenesis_(biology)` · `Escherichia_coli` · `Eternity` · `Eugenie_Scott` · `Eukaryote` · [[Evolution]] · `Evolution:_A_Theory_in_Crisis` · `Evolution_of_flagella` · `Evolution_of_mammalian_auditory_ossicles` · `Evolution_of_the_eye` · `Evolutionary_biology` · [[Evolvability]] · `Exaptation` · `Eye` · `Facilitated_variation` · `Factor_XII` · `False_dilemma` · `Falsifiability` · `Fine-tuned_universe` · `Fitness_landscape` · `Flagellum` · `Francis_Crick` · `Galen` · [[Genetic_algorithm]] · `Georges_Cuvier` · `Giant_panda` · `Glenn_Branch` · `God_of_the_gaps` · `Graham_Cairns-Smith` · `Harold_W._Clark` · `Harvard_Medical_School` · `Henry_Hallam` · `Henry_M._Morris` · `Herbert_Spencer` · `Hermann_Joseph_Muller` · `Homology_(biology)` · `Horizontal_gene_transfer` · `Immanuel_Kant` · `Institute_for_Creation_Research` · `Intelligent_Design_and_Evolution_Awareness_Center` · `Intelligent_design` · `Intelligent_design_in_politics` · `Intelligent_design_movement` · `Intelligent_designer` · `International_Society_for_Complexity,_Information,_and_Design` · `Intraflagellar_transport` · `Irish_elk` · `James_Watson` · `Jerry_Coyne` · `Jewish_reactions_to_intelligent_design` · `Joanna_Masel` · `Johan_Braeckman` · `John_Wilkins` · `Jonathan_Sarfati` · `Jonathan_Wells_(intelligent_design_advocate)` · `Joseph_Thornton_(biologist)` · `Kenneth_Einar_Himma` · `Kenneth_R._Miller` · `Kitzmiller_v._Dover_Area_School_District` · `Lehigh_University` · `List_of_scientific_bodies_explicitly_rejecting_intelligent_design` · [[Ludwig_von_Bertalanffy]] · `Maarten_Boudry` · `Mark_Perakh` · `Mark_Ridley_(zoologist)` · `McLean_v._Arkansas` · `Michael_Behe` · `Microevolution` · `Molecular_motor` · `Mousetrap` · `NBC_News` · `National_Center_for_Science_Education` · `Natural_arch` · `Natural_selection` · `Nautilus` · `Neo-creationism` · `Nicolas_Malebranche` · `Nucleic_Acids_Research` · `Octopus` · `Of_Pandas_and_People` · `On_the_Origin_of_Species` · `Only_A_Theory` · `Optic_disc` · `Paul_Guyer` · `Peaucellier–Lipkin_linkage` · `Peer_review` · `Phillip_E._Johnson` · `Photoreceptor_cell` · `Pierre_Gassendi` · `Pinhole_camera` · `Procatalepsis` · `Prodoxidae` · `Protein_structure` · `Pseudoscience` · `Punctuated_equilibrium` · `Retina` · `Salmonella` · `Scientific_community` · `Scientific_literature` · `Scientific_theory` · `Spandrel_(biology)` · `Specified_complexity` · `St._George_Jackson_Mivart` · `Stephen_C._Meyer` · [[Systems_theory]] · `Talk.origins` · `TalkOrigins_Archive` · `Teach_the_Controversy` · `Teleological_argument` · `Texas_sharpshooter_fallacy` · `The_Contemporary_Review` · `The_New_Yorker` · `The_Nineteenth_Century_(periodical)` · `The_Variation_of_Animals_and_Plants_Under_Domestication` · `Theistic_science` · `Thomas_Burnet_(theologian)` · `Tie_clip` · `Timeline_of_intelligent_design` · `Toxin` · `Transmutation_of_species` · `Truth_in_Science` · `University_of_California,_Berkeley` · `University_of_California,_Santa_Barbara` · `University_of_Chicago` · `University_of_Idaho` · `University_of_Oregon` · `Watchmaker_analogy` · `Waxy_corn` · [[Wayback_Machine]] · `Wedge_strategy` · `William_A._Dembski` · `William_Paley` · `Yersinia_pestis` · `Young_Earth_creationism` > Summary stub · part of Systems Thinking · [Wikipedia source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irreducible_complexity) ## Summary Irreducible complexity (IC) is the argument that certain biological systems with multiple interacting parts would not function if one of the parts were removed, so supposedly could not have evolved by successive small modifications from earlier less complex systems through natural selection, which would need all intermediate precursor systems to have been fully functional.[1] This negative argument is then complemented by the claim that the only alternative explanation is a "purposeful arrangement of parts" inferring design by an intelligent agent.[2] Irreducible complexity has become central to the creationist concept of intelligent design (ID), but the concept of irreducible complexity has been rejected by the scientific community at large,[3] which regards intelligent design as pseudoscience. ## Key points - Irreducible complexity (IC) is the argument that certain biological systems with multiple interacting parts would not function if one of the parts were removed, so supposedly could not have evolved by successive small modifications from earlier less complex systems through natural selection, which would need all intermediate precursor systems to have been fully functional. - This negative argument is then complemented by the claim that the only alternative explanation is a "purposeful arrangement of parts" inferring design by an intelligent agent. - Irreducible complexity has become central to the creationist concept of intelligent design (ID), but the concept of irreducible complexity has been rejected by the scientific community at large, which regards intelligent design as pseudoscience. ## Relation to Systems Thinking Irreducible complexity sits within the Systems Thinking cluster of related concepts. Its principles contribute to understanding [[Feedback|feedback]], [[Emergence|emergence]], and dynamic behavior in complex adaptive systems. ## Sources - [Irreducible complexity — Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irreducible_complexity) Back to Systems Thinking ---  ## Semiotic profile > *The semiotic universals this article invokes, machine-derived from the crossref — **unverified** (born so). Populated 2026-07-06 for the Systems room.* **Universals (3):** 🟡 system (13) · 🟢 emergence (2) · 🟢 feedback (2) **Enter by sign:** Systems Semiotic Gateway · Alphabetum · Icon Registry · ← Systems Portal  ## Wikipedia : Wikitube **Strict pair:** [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irreducible_complexity) : [Wikitube](https://en.wikitube.io/wiki/Irreducible_complexity) ## Previous hub tags Tree parents: [[Emergence]] · [[Systems_theory]]. Legacy hubs: none. --- *Sources: 1 legacy note. Minted wave 1, 2026-07-30 (v1.6 order).*