Eyes are one of the fastest organs to develop simply because small mutations in structure can convey enormous advantages. There's also a very clear through line between light sensitive patches, cup shaped light sensitive patches, pinhole eyes, and complex eyes. Every stage on the road to complex eyes gives some kind of distinct advantage.

Eyes remain simple for a long time only because complicated eyes weren't necessary for early creatures to be successful. The moment more complex eyes began to convey a competitive advantage, they developed in a flash, evolutionarily speaking.

[–] BountifulEggnog@hexbear.net 11 points 5 days ago (1 children)

It's really funny to hear you say that, when I was being taught young earth creationism that was one of the examples they loved were eyes, especially like octopus eyes for some reason. But then you actually look at evolution and it's clear how eyes evolved.

[–] LeonTreatsky@hexbear.net 9 points 5 days ago (1 children)

I've heard of that before. It's quite funny to me because I grew up surrounded by a lot of extremely academic Catholics for whom every new detail about biology, physics, and mathematics became an affirmation of the wonders of creation.

[–] Florn@hexbear.net 3 points 5 days ago

For all its issues, the Catholic Church has had to adapt to survive as an institution, so mechanisms for change and ideological wiggle room were built in over the last 500 or so years. This is in contrast to groups like Southern Baptists and other fundamentalists, whose purpose is to be an ideological lock on other institutions, namely slavery and then Jim Crow. The point of Biblical literalism is to demand ideological obedience without wiggle room.

[–] TheSovietOnion@hexbear.net 4 points 5 days ago

Do you have anything I can read/watch on eye evolution specifically? I love this biology stuff damn