The Whale Hypothesis

In my school days, before I was what would be called a Christian, there was a car wash nearby in the shape of a whale. One day the thought crossed my mind that if all of this evolutionary theory is true, that life arose from inanimate matter without being created by God, then whales should be the smartest creatures on earth by far.

Intelligence requires a complex brain. There must be a model in the brain of everything that we think about or remember. This calls for extreme complexity. The larger a brain is, the more potential complexity there is since the brains of all creatures are made of roughly the same kinds of atoms. This must mean that the larger a creature is, the more intelligent it should be.

There is some truth to this, elephants and whales are among the most intelligent of beings. Whales communicate with each other over vast distances by means of sound. But this means that every elephant should be a super Einstein and every whale should have an intelligence as far above us as we are above mice. Whales should be able to outsmart the crews of whaling ships with the slightest effort.

Yet, this is not the case. Evolutionary theory cannot begin to explain why humans are so much smarter than whales and elephants. The world can only support a relatively few creatures like whales and elephants. If God is using life on earth as a test to show that his principles are the right way, it would require an intelligent creature but also one that could exist in large numbers.

Humans are such an intelligent creature and are small enough to exist on earth in large numbers. The fact that God created us to be intelligent and yet numerous enough to provide a diverse and thorough test of spiritual principles down through human history is the only way to explain why humans are so much smarter than whales and elephants. If life arose as evolutionists claim, then the creatures with the largest brains would have the greatest potential complexity in the brain and thus the most intelligence.