Rattigan,
I used to feel exactly the same way, even laughing and mocking evolution educators for their beliefs, I mocked them as a JW kid in high school and then professors in university. Then I decided to look at the evidence for myself. I humbled my ego enough to recognise I didn't really have a clue what I was talking about or even understood the words I was using, as they were all phrases, terms and ideas passed on to me by JW literature. I was just parroting them.
The JW's had lied about so, so much , I didn't trust anyone, so I decided to explore the evidence for myself as the only person's motives I could be sure of ...were my own!
It takes seconds to dismiss a theory of science such and evolution, it also takes just seconds to read a religious explanation to an unknown such as 'god created the heavens and the earth.' I don't say this to judge, but to compare....it takes a very long time, years in fact, to explore academic literature. Even with grit, determination and huge amounts of effort it takes years to appreciate 'the science of evolutionary theory' .......it takes a good year or so to even appreciate fully what those words even mean. Not because you or religious people are ill equiped, but because this is immensely complex. How long would it take you to become expert enough in nuclesr fusion to be able to accept or defy latest theories in that field? Minutes, hours, weeks, months, years? Biology and genetic diversification is no different. We are all ignorant on this topic from birth!
What I concluded when I researched evolution is rightly IRRELEVANT to you, because it is MY answer and MY perspective snd your answer may differ, even if you walk the same path. I will tell you however, I am so ashamed that I mocked those educators. I am so ashamed to have mocked and doubted the integrity of such people as Darwin, Wallace and modern scientists. Darwin did more for exploring truth in one day of his exhausting hard work, than I did for half a lifetime as a JW, who the hell was I to mock or besmirch him? Scientists that spend their lives dedicated to trying to understand the universe better, how do we compare with what we accomplish for society and truth? Maybe that consideration will aid our humility in a beneficial way,
I truly hope you take the time to even just explore the topic.
By the way, the language and examples someone uses very quickly identifies how much scientific reading on the topic they have done. No offence but even your choice of words shows you don't have even the most basic understanding of natural selection, of evolution. That is not an insult, nobody is born with knowledge of nuclear fusion, quadratic equations or genetic mutation. It has to be worked hard at and earned.
PM me if you want some good book suggestions, I can help narrow that time spent researching and exploring, depending where you want/need to start. Many ex JW's don't appreciate the sub topics , i.e. physics leading to chemistry leading to biology, then under the umbrella of biology abiogenesis and only THEN diversification, genetic mutation, natural selection etc. Depending on where you want to start and how much you need to resd first, I can have plenty of sggestions.
Have you read much on the scientific method istelf? Do you appreciate what it means to 'do science'? Do you accept data if gathered appropriately via the scientific method? Best to start here if not!
Oh and one last thing, you are right..... an eye or an ear would have to be functional at every mutational state for it to dominate a species genetics. How on esrth did they evolve functionally over millions of years? Great question! Do you want to know the answer.....? The answers aren't hard to find and you can go as deep with the answers as you want. Try a very basic answer first, start with the evolution of an eye..... read this.....
https://www.nature.com/articles/eye2017226
