The evolutionist challenge the Creationists, saying “evolution maybe can’t be falsified because it happened over billions of years, but nobody observed God creating life either, so that’s not scientific either.” I like the way Dr. A. E. Wilder-Smith answered this counter challenge to creationism. It was brilliant and simple, and goes as follows.
Again, starting with basics is always a good idea. So he started with basic scientific procedure, defining terms (in experimental science these are called “operational variables”). What is the definition of “evolution?” What is the definition of “creation?” Before making claims or arguing about something, define what you are talking about, what you are investigating. A.E. Wilder-Smith established that first as follows:
Evolution = the equation is true that
E (energy) + M (matter) + T (time) = Life
With enough of each of these, and nothing else, life will emerge.
Creation = the equation is true that
M (matter) + E (energy) + I = Life
Where the factor “I” is information, or concept, or idea, or “Logos”
Without “I”, life will not emerge. With “I” it will.
Then, he says, we can test the hypotheses. Consider a can of tuna. What does a can of tuna have to do with anything? A can of tuna has the perfect ingredients for life to arise. It skips all the difficulty of getting amino acids in the right form and ratio, fats, carbohydrates, trace elements, everything in one place. It’s a phenomenal head start toward creating life, but never-mind that. Now run the experiments. The tuna can is thermodynamically open, that is energy can go in and out, but it is sterilized (no cheating by having pre-existing life in the can) and sealed (no life can get in to contaminate the experiment). Now leave the can for a year, or 5 years.
We know from observation that no life arises spontaneously in the can, as long as it is sealed. The entire canned food industry is founded on this certainty. Sealed cans (and jars for that matter) have been produced for over 200 years, beginning in the 1800’s, but let’s start about the time of the 2nd world war. Nearly 130 billion cans are consumed in America each year. Worldwide estimates are about 200 billion canned food containers every year. Let’s just say 200 billion times 50 years conservatively for total canned food observations by the human race. That’s 10 trillion cans over the lifetime of the industry. Each can may sit 6 months to years. Let’s say the average is 6 months or half a year. That is the equivalent of 5 trillion “can-years” of experiments, without one observation of life arising spontaneously in a sealed sterilized can. No new life observed. So, experimentally, evolution is one of the most falsified “theories” you can imagine.
This kind of testing is employed all the time in engineering products to last over time. I helped design the stealth bomber, designed to last 30 years or more. This is how it’s done, accelerated testing, because you can’t wait 30 years to discover your design needs revamping to last that long. You can run tests in parallel, more extreme conditions and other ways to accelerate the time.