This is a piece I wrote about 6 months ago. It is more a ramble (editing is a rather laborious process) than anything at the moment but I'd like to share it with the forum. My posting of this is inspired by the [wonderful] interest the universe thread has gotten and hopefully we can have another scientific debate within here. This is a largely abridged version of the paper with all references to religion removed since the forum doesn't allow such...
That is about 1/3 of the chapter (yes, I have written a book) as the rest has a lot of religious rhetoric that wouldn't be appreciated here. Comments and discussion welcomed and encouraged.
Pick n' Mix Science by Scott Thomson (aka Scotracer)
Since Darwin first published the Origin of Species there has been a surprising amount of backlash against it. Looking at the Theory objectively one can see that all it suggests is that life varies over time due to a number of factors: changing environment, reproduction with mutation and the fact that every living organism dies. When this is taken over a length of time the changes resulting can be from microscopic to the point where we, on the face of it, don’t understand how one became another without analysing the genetics and palaeontology of the species. With countless fossils showing many, many stages in the development of life on this planet all falling under the observations and predictions of Evolutionary Theory it is very bewildering to see people flat-out reject (when they have no authority to do so) the process. As a science, it is the backbone of modern biology and is as strong as any of the other Theories within science; i.e. Atomic Theory (which resulted in the Hiroshima bombings), General Relativity and Control Theory (without which no engineered system today would work). In fact, Evolutionary Theory has more supportive evidence and fewer contradictions than Atomic Theory and the Theory of Gravity; both of which we know are wrong.
The evidence for evolutionary theory would take about the same amount of time as your average speciation event (a poor attempt at biology-based humour I grant you) to occur with morphology, physiology, embryology, plate tectonics, migration patterns & DNA all confirming the theory it would take some self-assurance to claim anything otherwise but it happens, daily.
One may at this point be wondering just what the problem is. Two particular topics to study that spring to mind are religion and human self-importance. The latter is much simpler to describe; ever since we were infants we are told that we (regardless of religion convictions our parents may have had) are Humans and every other species are the Animals. There is a glaring, bolded boundary between the two. We then form many of our future judgements based on this. In addition, the fact we are so mentally superior to the rest of the animal kingdom and our advances are far more obvious that to place down to the same level as every other creature is somehow criminal. But, the fact of the matter is we are animals: apes to be more specific. The ape is collectively defined as any gill-less, organic RNA/DNA protein-based, metabolic, metazoic, nucleic, diploid, bilaterally-symmetrical, endothermic, digestive, tryploblast, opisthokont, deuterostome coelemate with a spinal chord and 12 cranial nerves connecting to a limbic system in an enlarged cerebral cortex with a reduced olfactory region inside a jawed-skull with specialized teeth including canines and premolars, forward-oriented fully-enclosed optical orbits, and a single temporal fenestra, -attached to a vertebrate hind-leg dominant tetrapoidal skeleton with a sacral pelvis, clavical, and wrist & ankle bones; and having lungs, tear ducts, body-wide hair follicles, lactal mammaries, opposable thumbs, and keratinised dermis with chitinous nails on all five digits on all four extremities, in addition to an embryonic development in amniotic fluid, leading to a placental birth and highly social lifestyle. It doesn’t take a scientist to realise that we fall right under that heading but still there is a mental barrier between fact and acceptance.
If people wish to believe they are somehow more important than any other animal they are free to do so but they must realise they are animals regardless of any notion of divinity. I quite like the fact we’re the 5th ape – it makes me feel more content in my surroundings, like we actually belong here and are part of this glorious eco-system just like any other animal. Hello my new brothers; sorry about the mess we made.
Still, there are the vast majority who have either not realised they are apes or refuse to acknowledge the fact and I find it criminal. We came into existence exactly the same way as every other life form so at least acknowledge our evolutionary equals – after all, evolution is not a ladder it is a diverging hierarchy, every being that is alive today is just as “evolved” as any other; in so much that they are suited to their environment so they may survive and propagate. It is a branched system with almost too many divergent paths to count. To make you feel a bit more proud of your heritage think of it this way: for you to be here today you must have a complete, unbroken lineage of ancestors all the way back to the beginnings of life on this planet, some 2 billion years ago. That’s quite a concept. Family pride will never get any more intense or justified than that.
But, no matter how poetic I make it sound the depressing state of affairs show that people are still clinging to (or to flat-out deny anything) religion for solitude, hope and inner-peace. It is to be expected, though, as they are conditioned (and have conditioned themselves) to refute any evidence contrary to their dogmatic views on reality. So, it’s like teaching this to a blind and deaf person: they will just never get it. Even though this is the case, Evolution seems to have a special place on its mantel where it is even heralded as “Evilution” despite the fact that the Germ Theory of disease refutes a lot of things that may be seen as common sense. Illness is caused by demons, indeed. But is that attacked? Of course not – they can only be so hypocritical when they are picking up their medicines.
Since Darwin first published the Origin of Species there has been a surprising amount of backlash against it. Looking at the Theory objectively one can see that all it suggests is that life varies over time due to a number of factors: changing environment, reproduction with mutation and the fact that every living organism dies. When this is taken over a length of time the changes resulting can be from microscopic to the point where we, on the face of it, don’t understand how one became another without analysing the genetics and palaeontology of the species. With countless fossils showing many, many stages in the development of life on this planet all falling under the observations and predictions of Evolutionary Theory it is very bewildering to see people flat-out reject (when they have no authority to do so) the process. As a science, it is the backbone of modern biology and is as strong as any of the other Theories within science; i.e. Atomic Theory (which resulted in the Hiroshima bombings), General Relativity and Control Theory (without which no engineered system today would work). In fact, Evolutionary Theory has more supportive evidence and fewer contradictions than Atomic Theory and the Theory of Gravity; both of which we know are wrong.
The evidence for evolutionary theory would take about the same amount of time as your average speciation event (a poor attempt at biology-based humour I grant you) to occur with morphology, physiology, embryology, plate tectonics, migration patterns & DNA all confirming the theory it would take some self-assurance to claim anything otherwise but it happens, daily.
One may at this point be wondering just what the problem is. Two particular topics to study that spring to mind are religion and human self-importance. The latter is much simpler to describe; ever since we were infants we are told that we (regardless of religion convictions our parents may have had) are Humans and every other species are the Animals. There is a glaring, bolded boundary between the two. We then form many of our future judgements based on this. In addition, the fact we are so mentally superior to the rest of the animal kingdom and our advances are far more obvious that to place down to the same level as every other creature is somehow criminal. But, the fact of the matter is we are animals: apes to be more specific. The ape is collectively defined as any gill-less, organic RNA/DNA protein-based, metabolic, metazoic, nucleic, diploid, bilaterally-symmetrical, endothermic, digestive, tryploblast, opisthokont, deuterostome coelemate with a spinal chord and 12 cranial nerves connecting to a limbic system in an enlarged cerebral cortex with a reduced olfactory region inside a jawed-skull with specialized teeth including canines and premolars, forward-oriented fully-enclosed optical orbits, and a single temporal fenestra, -attached to a vertebrate hind-leg dominant tetrapoidal skeleton with a sacral pelvis, clavical, and wrist & ankle bones; and having lungs, tear ducts, body-wide hair follicles, lactal mammaries, opposable thumbs, and keratinised dermis with chitinous nails on all five digits on all four extremities, in addition to an embryonic development in amniotic fluid, leading to a placental birth and highly social lifestyle. It doesn’t take a scientist to realise that we fall right under that heading but still there is a mental barrier between fact and acceptance.
If people wish to believe they are somehow more important than any other animal they are free to do so but they must realise they are animals regardless of any notion of divinity. I quite like the fact we’re the 5th ape – it makes me feel more content in my surroundings, like we actually belong here and are part of this glorious eco-system just like any other animal. Hello my new brothers; sorry about the mess we made.
Still, there are the vast majority who have either not realised they are apes or refuse to acknowledge the fact and I find it criminal. We came into existence exactly the same way as every other life form so at least acknowledge our evolutionary equals – after all, evolution is not a ladder it is a diverging hierarchy, every being that is alive today is just as “evolved” as any other; in so much that they are suited to their environment so they may survive and propagate. It is a branched system with almost too many divergent paths to count. To make you feel a bit more proud of your heritage think of it this way: for you to be here today you must have a complete, unbroken lineage of ancestors all the way back to the beginnings of life on this planet, some 2 billion years ago. That’s quite a concept. Family pride will never get any more intense or justified than that.
But, no matter how poetic I make it sound the depressing state of affairs show that people are still clinging to (or to flat-out deny anything) religion for solitude, hope and inner-peace. It is to be expected, though, as they are conditioned (and have conditioned themselves) to refute any evidence contrary to their dogmatic views on reality. So, it’s like teaching this to a blind and deaf person: they will just never get it. Even though this is the case, Evolution seems to have a special place on its mantel where it is even heralded as “Evilution” despite the fact that the Germ Theory of disease refutes a lot of things that may be seen as common sense. Illness is caused by demons, indeed. But is that attacked? Of course not – they can only be so hypocritical when they are picking up their medicines.
That is about 1/3 of the chapter (yes, I have written a book) as the rest has a lot of religious rhetoric that wouldn't be appreciated here. Comments and discussion welcomed and encouraged.
