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evolution vs creationism
the debate on creation and evolution
evolution vs creationism
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Creationists have locked themselves into a country-wide battle against science for the minds of our youth and control of the intelligentsia. Why are they fighting? Over the last decade, the Theory of Evolution has reared its head with a vengeance, and creationists fear that it erodes the moral integrity of our society while promising to deliver us into a dark age. Nothing could be further from the truth, and the truth is, in fact, quite the opposite. The Theory of Evolution is supported by vast amounts of empirical evidence, and the dismissal of such can only cause harm to our society in a world where innovation and progress beget survival.
There are so many arguments against evolution that I could not list even a sizeable fraction of them in this paper. Instead I shall focus on explaining what the basics of evolution are, rebut a couple of common creationist arguments, and tell you why evolutionary science is so important to us. It is not my hope to make a believer of any possible skeptics, as science does not require one’s belief, but only to shed light upon an issue that has been clouded over by gross misinformation.
Evolution can be described as gradual change in a species population from one generation to the next through the process of natural selection, which is more akin to a process of elimination (Mayr 117-118). What this process basically entails is that over time, members of a species may acquire genetically inherited traits which provide greater odds of survivability within a given environment. Such members, being more likely to survive and therefore procreate, will pass these genes along to the next generation. Conversely, members of said species that do not possess these genes may have difficulty surviving long ...
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...sts love to point out. However, Darwin also put considerable effort into detailing how eyes could evolve from the humble beginnings of photosensitive cells and upward through various steps. Since then, scientists have observed and documented occurrences of these steps in nature, demonstrating great plausibility that eyes can, and have, evolved. Ears have only the simple requirement of a nerve that is attached to anything which may be sensitive to vibration, and a plethora of variations can be found from insects, with often a dozen ears, to humans, who are also capable to interpreting sound through tactile sensation. Brains also pose little challenge for evolution as the world in abundant with brains of different sizes and complexities, and tracing a gradual evolution of them can be further supported by varying skull sizes of early hominid ancestors. (Isaak 64-66)
"Charles Darwin: The Father of Evolution." Darwin1. University of Missouri, n.d. Web. 04 May 2014.
In the uncertainty that the modern world is, there is one law that stays petrified in stone no matter what happens: “Things change with age.” No matter if it is in history, science, or even Pokémon, things change as time passes by and this process is called evolution. The theory formulated by Charles Darwin is the belief that all organisms have come from earliest creatures because of external factors (“NSTA…”). School boards everywhere have accepted the theory of Evolution as fact making it essential to be in the curriculums of science classrooms. However, over the years, controversy has arisen as the fact that is evolution is still only a theory with flaws and setbacks, efficiently making other theories (i.e. intelligent design) a viable alternate in the classroom. The law, on the other hand, had a different idea about these other theories with numerous bans them from schools, claiming them to be against the second amendment. Despite the bitter debate of rather or not it is valid and right for teaching (primarily alone) the theory of evolution lies as being the most reliable and accurate way to teach how the modern world came to be.
Robert Root-Bernstein and Donald L. McEachron, “Teaching Theories: The Evolution-Creation Controversy,” The American Biology Teacher, Vol. 44, No. 7 (Oct…1982). This article, written by Robert Root-Bernstein and Donald L. McEachron sheds light on the controversy of evolution vs creationism in schools and the validity of each being called a scientific theory. The work was created to answer the questions, “Which of these theories is truly scientific and which is a religious belief? Which should be taught in schools?” The article concluded in favor of evolution as a valid scientific theory that should be taught rather than creationism, but also mentioned the worth of understanding the latter.
What is evolution? Evolution in modern terms is fairly easy to understand. Evolution is the theory that life on earth began with a single celled organism that lived more that 3.5 billion years ago that slowly evolved into many diverse creatures over time. When you break down this theory into sections you get 6 factors: evolution, gradualism, speciation, common ancestry, natural selection and nonselective mechanisms of evolutionary change.
Anyone with even a moderate background in science has heard of Charles Darwin and his theory of evolution. Since the publishing of his book On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection in 1859, Darwin’s ideas have been debated by everyone from scientists to theologians to ordinary lay-people. Today, though there is still severe opposition, evolution is regarded as fact by most of the scientific community and Darwin’s book remains one of the most influential ever written.
Evolution in general, is a hard concept to grasp. There are multiple factors that effect the outcome a species, for example: genetics, nurture, nature, and the environment all play an important role. It was once said that species do not survive due to the fact that they are the strongest or the most intelligent, but because that species is the most responsive to change.
What is evolution and how does it work? Evolution is the theory of how one form of life changes into another form. Evolution also is the change in a population’s inherited traits from generation to generation. Evolution helps to explain why an animal, human, and plant looks the way it does and acts the way it does; it gives an explanation of the history of life. Genes come in many varieties, and the evolution helps to make it happen.
After Sir Charles Darwin had introduced his original theory about the origins of species and evolution, humanity’s faith in God that remained undisputed for hundreds of years had reeled. The former unity fractured into the evolutionists, who believed that life as we see it today had developed from smaller and more primitive organisms, and creationists, who kept believing that life in all its diversity was created by a higher entity. Each side introduced substantial arguments to support their claims, but at the same time the counter-arguments of each opponent are also credible. Therefore, the debates between the evolutionists and the creationists seem to be far from ending. And though their arguments are completely opposite, they can co-exist or even complement each other.
Since the time that teaching evolution in public schools was banned as heresy and taboo for contradicting the Bible, most public school systems today take an opposite approach in which creationism is seldom ta...
In the early 1840s, the main principles of Darwin’s theory of evolution were formulated by the mechanism of natural selection; however, he did not publish it. Although evolutionary theory sprouted in many places, Darwin rejected the publication of his theory, and it was not until 1859 that he published “On the Origin of Species” (Darwin, 1859).
In order for a species to survive, its population has to evolve. Evolution is the process of gradual change driven by natural selection to improve survival. Evolution is the explanation of how life got to its current state. Before the idea of evolution, the Bible gave the explanation of how things came to be, the Theory of Creation. Charles Darwin is credited for developing the theory of evolution.
These days, most of the textbook only presents evolution theory as a fact to interpret the origin of life and the earth. More and more people get to reject creation unconsciously because they had no opportunity to compare and evaluate both worldview in same degree. I interviewed my three close acquaintances and heard a various responses from many people including my interviewees. Some of them had same belief with me, but some people had significantly different opinion with me. As a consequence of evolution theory’s monopoly in education, non-believers and Christians are unconsciously influenced by this secular worldview.
Monastersky, Richard. (2004). Society Disowns Paper Attacking Darwinism. The Chronicle of Higher Education, Vol. 51, Iss. 5, A.16.
Evolution is not something that happened over night, it happened over millions of years. A species evolves by the process of natural selection, or survival of the fittest. Whichever organism is better fitted to its environment and way of life, will survive and pass on the genes necessary to survive. Many researchers and scientists have seen this happen, such as Charles Darwin.
The evolutionary theory is the concept that species evolve over time through the mechanism of natural selection of survival and reproduction. Natural selection means acting on the assumption that various living organisms were produced by genetic diversity and mutation. The evolution theory may also be referred to as the philosophizing science. This theory states that all phenomena are derived from natural causes and can be explained by scientific laws without reference to a plan or purpose.