More about the Amazing Human Eye

“Intelligent processing occurs in the retina before the information is transmitted to the brain. It has been estimated that 10 billion calculations occur every second in the retina before the image even gets to the brain (Gillen). George Marshall, Ph.D. in Ophthalmic Science from Glasgow University, says: ‘The retina is probably the most complicated tissue in the whole body. Millions of nerve cells interconnect in a fantastic number of ways to form a miniature brain. Much of what the photoreceptors ‘see’ is interpreted and processed by the retina long before it enters the brain’ (‘An Eye for Creation: An Interview with Eye-disease Researcher Dr. George Marshall,’ Creation, September 1996, www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v18/i4/eye.asp). Even the atheist Richard Dawkins has to marvel at the complexity of the human eye, though he reaches the strange conclusion that it is the product of blind evolution: ‘The optic nerve is a trunk cable, a bundle of separate insulated wires, in this case about three million of them. Each of the three million wires leads from one cell in the retina to the brain. You can think of them as the wires leading from a bank of three million photocells (actually three million relay stations gathering information from an even larger number of photocells) to the computer that is to process the information in the brain’ (Dawkins, The Blind Watchmaker, p. 93). The eye’s optic nerve can handle 1.5 million simultaneous messages that are sent to the brain where this massive amount of information is instantaneously processed. The eyes are set in the body at the ideal place and are protected by the surrounding bone structure, by the eyelid, the eyelashes, and the eyebrows. The eyes are self-cleaning and self-maintaining. They produce three different types of tears, each with its own complex chemical makeup. Basal tears are the normal lubricating tears that keep the eye clear of dust. The composition of these tears includes lysozyme which fights against bacterial infection as part of the body’s mind-bogglingly complex immune system. Reflex tears are produced to flush the eye of irritants, such as onion or pepper vapors. Emotional tears are produced as a result of emotional stress and contain a natural painkiller and calming hormones. Tears have three layers, an outer layer which contains oils that prevent evaporation and controls the flow of tears onto the cheek; a middle layer, which contains the proteins and hormones, and a mucous layer touching the eye itself which coats the cornea and provides for even distribution of the tear film.”

Seeing the Non-existent: Evolution’s Myths and Hoaxes, David Cloud

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