Computer modeling of evolution using digital organisms shows that the combination of random mutations with natural selection is incredibly powerful and efficient. In one program [mimicking Behe’s irreducible complexity] the probability of a 19 component program evolving on the basis of random mutations alone was one in a thousand trillion trillion. When selection was added in combination with an optimum environment, the probability increased to 1 in 1.
In a second program the probability of finding a 16-site component was five in one hundred billion billion generations. When selection was added the component evolved in 704 generations, a thousand billion times faster.
With this powerful combination of mutation and selection, irreducibly complex processes or organisms can evolve rapidly and efficiently. [p102]
Cases of so-called ‘irreducible complexity’ are often not irreducible. In addition, the complex organ is often modular in that it is composed of modules that had a different use before being incorporated into the more complex function. This eliminates the necessity for all parts to evolve simultaneously. [p107]
