Bone Peddlers
William Fix is trained as a behavioral scientist. He apparently is a strong believer in the paranormal. Yet, he wrote a book back in 1984 entitled The Bone Peddlers: Selling Evolution. In that book, Fix picks apart the evidence for human evolution. He does not, however, turn his attention to God. More on that in a moment. Here are a few quotes from Fix on paleontology and human evolution…
“The greatest impediment to the advancement of science is not lack of evidence but lack of perspective. Like the rest of us, scientists are emotional beings. …Their example is a pertinent reminder that just because most of the authorities in a field are shouting in unison that they know the truth, it ain’t necessarily so. The more emotive the issue, the more likely is shouting in unison to be heard. And of course there are few subjects more emotive than the origin of man” (pgs xviii, xix).
Commenting on the idea that man is the result of a “series of billions of accidents over billions of years, Fix writes: “On the face of it, this is not satisfying scientifically or philosophically. Scientifically, this position is no more capable of proof or disproof than miracles of special creation, and all the laws of probability are dead against it. Philosophically, even a child can see there is too much order and pattern in nature for this to be credible” (xxiii).
Fix claims he approached the study of human evolution from a “middle of the road” perspective, believing some in evolution and some in creation. What he found, however, in studying human evolution is that “almost every ancestor of man ever proposed suffers from disqualifying liabilities that are not widely publicized” (xxv). The majority of his book deals with the story of the finds of human fossils, their enthronement as “missing links,” and then their subsequent “dethronement” when more evidence is brought to light.
Fix has particular criticism for American paleoanthropology. Since there is so much money and prestige in the American university, there is a great deal of pressure to present some new find as evidence of human evolution and the emotional detachment that ought to prevail in scientific studies is jettisoned.
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“But given the peculiar atmosphere in the scientific community where American academics in particular seem to regard it as an intellectual duty to endorse human evolution, and given the volatile and trendy nature of the literary marketplace, it only takes one or two well-publicized ‘authorities’ to jump to an unwarranted conclusion, and soon it is repeated everywhere, and a new ‘orthodoxy’ has arisen” (48).
So goes Fix’s studies for about 200 pages. Unfortunately, Fix does not believe that biblical theism is any more believable than evolution. He takes one chapter to sweep aside the Genesis account of creation as myth. In sharp contrast to the scholarly detail with which he debunked the claims of evolutionists, Fix only cites “scholars” who believe Genesis is a mythical account and a fabrication without doing any study among conservative scholars who have answers to those quibbles. That chapter is a remarkable disappointment compared to the thoroughness of the previous chapters.
Instead, Fix believes there is a universal “consciousness” that has helped propel the animal and human kingdom through their various stages of evolution. No, I do not really understand what he means and his discussion brings up more questions than answers. He calls it “psychogenesis.” His whole discussion of the paranormal, especially in the context of the origin of life, man, and consciousness is woefully lacking.
Yet, the bottom line, and Fix contributes to this point, is; There is no evidence for evolution in the fossil record, especially not of human evolution. There is overwhelming reasons to teach our children these facts. If they choose to leave their faith in God, they need to understand it is they who are leaving logic, reason, facts, and science behind.
–Paul Holland
