The views expressed in this paper are those of the writer(s) and are not necessarily those of the ARJ Editor or Answers in Genesis.
This is a short reply to Dr. Nathaniel Jeanson’s response (Jeanson 2017) to my comment to his work on human mtDNA (Frello 2017).
The main point of our dispute is whether or not ancient DNA-sequences from Neanderthals and Denisovans are sufficiently reliable to be included in analyses regarding the origin of humanity.
Instead of going through the arguments once again, I think Dr. Jeanson should prove his case, by confronting the experts within the field.
Creationists rely heavily on work published in what they would probably call “secular” scientific journals. “Secular” scientists mostly do not read creationist journals, like the Answers Research Journal, in which Dr. Jeanson and his colleagues publish their results. This is for a very good reason. Creationism, by definition, refers to miracles in its explanations. “Secular” scientists regard that as outside the realm of science.
If Dr. Jeanson sincerely wants to have a response to his work from the experts within the field (as he should), he should confront them in a way to which they cannot refuse to respond. That is, in the journals that publish the results from the leading scientists within the field.
Dr. Jeanson is forced to acknowledge a certain asymmetry here: Creationists rely on results from “secular” scientists. “Secular” scientists couldn’t care less what creationists publish in their own journals. You might call that unfair, but that’s reality. As long as Dr. Jeanson insists only to publish in the safe haven of Answers Research Journal, his ideas will never be confronted by experts, and he will never know the pitfalls.
The two leading experts within ancient human DNA are Eske Willerslev, University of Copenhagen, and Svante Pääbo, Max Planck Institute. Confront them, Dr. Jeanson! If you have a case, you might cause them to be more careful with their conclusions.
References
Frello, S. 2017. “On the Creationist View on mtDNA.” Answers Research Journal 10: 181–182. https://answersingenesis.org/human-evolution/creationist-view-mtdna/.
Jeanson N. T. 2017. “Response to ‘On the Creationist View on mtDNA’.” Answers Research Journal 10: 183–186. https://answersingenesis.org/human-evolution/response-creationist-view-mtdna/.
