jollyjim311
Scruffy Nerf Herder
“To kill an error is as good a service as, and sometimes even better than, the establishing of a new truth or fact.”
-Charles Darwin
"Every organism, ranging from the complexity of a human being to the simplicity of a single-celled prokaryotic bacterium, is shaped by evolution. Evolution, also known as Darwinism, is a series or random mutations, that when beneficial, are passed on through future generations of a species that eventually result in a species with a new trait, and, ultimately, a new species entirely. Charles Darwin first developed and proposed the theory of evolution in the mid 19th century after going on a world-wide voyage, and his ideas have since grown in popularity and scientific proof. It is imperative that evolution be understood and accepted in our society. Evolution is a scientific fact. This can be proven by the falsehood of anti-evolutionary claims, the individual evolutionary paths of specific organisms, and the evidence to support Darwinism through fossil records.
There are many anti-evolutionary theories and beliefs that have been used to attempt to discredit Darwinism in its entirety since it first became an issue. Many of these assertions use scripture as evidence and are brought up by creationists who think that their beliefs are superior to Darwin’s logic and observation-based conclusions. What many creationists refuse to realize is that the conflict need not be evolution versus creationism in its entirety. Is it completely impossible that whatever greater power one might believe in designed all species, including humans and their predecessors, to adapt to an environment that has been proved to be constantly changing? Another phrase that has been used to bash and discredit evolution is the tossing around of the words “It is just a theory.” This, while 100 percent correct, means very little. In scientific terms, “theory” is a term that is not taken lightly. The notion that evolution is wrong due to the fact that it is just a theory is comparable to asserting that “relativity as described by Albert Einstein is "just" a theory. The notion that Earth orbits around the sun rather than vice versa, offered by Copernicus in 1543, is a theory. Continental drift is a theory. The existence, structure, and dynamics of atoms? Atomic theory. Even electricity is a theoretical construct, involving electrons, which are tiny units of charged mass that no one has ever seen” (Quammen). It is fair to say that these theories are generally accepted as fact, and that is because they do not conflict with hypotheses thousands of years out of date recorded in scripture.
It is well understood that there is a variety between all organisms. This variety is due to random mutations in each organism. Specific observations of these variations show how evolution has shaped certain species. Some of the best examples of the effects evolution have had on isolated populations are in the Galapagos Islands, a place where Charles Darwin made many of his observations. A commonly used example of an isolated population within the Galapagos is the finch. There are many types of finches on the islands of the Galapagos, but each is individual. Through time, the finches have evolved separate from each other to do specific jobs on separate islands. Where there is an abundance of hard shelled nuts, there are larger, strong-beaked finches. Where there is softer food, the finches are smaller with smaller beaks. Another variation among one species that can be more readily understood is dogs. All dogs are the same species, meaning they are alike enough to breed and produce fertile offspring, but that is where their similarities end. Dogs have evolved from a single type of canine into the variety that can be seen today. Each type was isolated and adapted to fit in a niche in its environment thanks to evolution.
The evidence for evolution is overwhelming. Evolution does not happen over night, though, so expecting to see significant changes in any species over the course of an individual’s lifetime is not an option. Due to the process being gradual, however, there are many transitional creatures, organisms that are somewhere in-between two types of known species, one ancient, the other more modern, that can be found as fossils. For starters, there is Archaeopteryx, a winged, feathered, dinosaur-like creature. Archaeopteryx shows the beginning stages of an evolutionary change that many renowned scientists believe led to the first avian creatures. Among others are “an early whale that lived on land, and [an] animal showing the transition from fish to tetrapod” (Wilford 2). All of these types of fossils have been found, and the significance of each of them is not to be understated. Each is a milestone in furthering the proof of evolution through the finding of physical evidence of transitional creatures.
In conclusion, the evidence for evolution is overpowering. The lack of counter-arguments, the individual evolutionary paths of specific organisms, and the fossil records do not lye. One of the only aspects that is more overpowering than the evidence is people’s willingness to disbelieve evolution based on illogical assumptions. The good that can be accomplished by accepting evolution may not be immediately apparent, but neither was the good that could be accomplished by the acceptance of the fact that the Earth is round or our Solar system heliocentric. Each has played a huge part in humanities understanding of the nature of science. The realizations and advancements that could come from a general admittance, understanding, and acceptance of evolution as a scientific fact has the potential to be much more groundbreaking that either of the previous theories, because it deals with the very nature of how life is shaped. The real question isn’t weather or not evolution is existent, but weather or not you are ready to accept it."