Evolution

As a scientist, and a geneticist, I fully believe that evolution is a fact. The website you found has a lot of really good explanations about evolution, the true definition of what a theory is, and why scientists can accept that evolution is a fact while still debating the details on HOW it happened. As for us evolving from apes, it is more correct to state that all primates-monkeys, apes and man (although we are considered a great ape)-developed from a single common ancestor. So, we did not evolve from gorillas or chimps, but we had a common many great-grandparent millions of years ago, and over time we have developed into independent but highly related species.

I don't buy it. This planet is too diverse to have just suddenly, spontaneously developed. I believe there was a Creator at some point in our past- not the Christian God necessarily, but a being of higher intelligence.

Well, the diversity didn't just spontaneously develop. Yes, life arose, probably once and in a single extremely primitive form. But in the millions and millions of years since then, evolution has worked to create this diversity.

I do not believe in evolution. I am a creationist and I highly recommend www.icr.org as a great source on this topic.

I firmly believe in evolution. It makes scientific sense, there is logic and firm data to support it, not just in humans but in other species as well.

Perhaps it was a spark of a Divine Creator that got the ball rolling, but I do believe Life was free to diversify, adapt and thrive on its own after that.

I too am a scientist and believe 100% in evolution. We talk a lot about evolution in our classes (I teach at a university) and have started showing the PBS series on evolution to our students. I am amazed at the incredible misinformation that is given to our students about evolution in high school. Even the most religious of our students, once they watch the series, say that they now understand why we believe so strongly in evolution. Once you know what it is about, you will see that it is no threat at all to Christianity or any other religion.

I strongly encourage everyone to go to your public libraries and borrow the Evolution series. It is fascinating and shows the reality behind the science. I especially hope that those who think evolution is evil will watch the series so they can see that there is nothing at all threatening about the concept.

I am a believer of evolution. Always have.

Count me in.

I believe we evolved and that we are still evolving.

Yes, everything has evolved and continues to evolve. Its a continuous process. I think it's so hard to grasp, as our personal time reference is just a tiny blip in the entire evolutionary timeline.

Evolution is how it is.

I absolutely believe in evolution. I don't work in the field, but my major in college was anthropology, which included coursework in physical anthropology, archaeology, and evolution. I also took biology courses that closely examined evolution and the genetics involved.

We can actually see evolution happen in species that have short reproductive cycles, like the fruit flies that Thomas Morgan studied. Currently, the overuse of antibiotics is demonstrating a scary example of evolution - strains of bacteria have evolved that are resistant to antibiotics. Part of the problem is that many people don't take their full dose, so the antibiotics they do take kill off the weakest bacteria. The bacteria that make it through have the most resistance to the antibiotics, and pass those genetic traits on to their offspring.

That is what the phrase 'survival of the fittest' is all about - it's not necessarily who is the strongest (althought it has been taken incorrectly to mean that many, many times). The individuals who are most able to thrive in their environment (the fittest) survive to reproduce and pass their genetic material on to subsequent generations. This causes gradual changes in the overall genetic makeup of the population. These gradual genetic changes that happen - that is evolution. And it's important to note that it is the population evolves, not the individual.

Homo sapiens sapiens continues to evolve, too. (Interesting fact - wisdom teeth are evolving out of homo sapiens sapiens.) No, we did not evolve from apes, but we did have a common ancestor. The apes that live today are just as modern as are we - they just evolved to adapt to a different environment.

Not trying to sway anyone else's opinion, I'm just stating mine and giving a little basis for why I believe the way I do.

Suzy - my major in college was also anthropology. How I love that subject!

I love anthropology also, but I got lured away by statistics! And now I'm a programmer...sometimes life takes you in directions you never expect! And this thread got me thinking about genetics for the first time in years - that is a subject I find fascinating.

Hey I'm an anthropology major too!

Evolution is a fact, IMO. Anyone that has studied it could not deny it.

If we evolved from monkeys, then how come we're not seeing monkeys evolve today? How come we're not "evolving" into something beyond 'human'?

We did not evolve from monkeys, we evolved from a common ancestor. Suzy explains better than I did in the post above.

Well, most people believing in evolution, usually believe in the 'ape' theory.... what is our 'common' ancestor then? And how did it become existant in the first place? Our wisdom teeth, we get those extracted. I still don't see much as far as further 'evolution' in the real world such as humans if we evolved from something to begin with...fruit flies have a short life time.

We can't see evolution in larger primates because it doesn't happen within generations - genetic traits are passed between generations, which causes a gradual shift in the genetic makeup of the population over time. Noticible changes can take tens or hundreds or even thousands of generations, so for humans and other large primates, it's not possible to see in one lifetime (except by studying the fossil record).

The geneticist I wrote of above, Morgan, experimented with fruit flies, which produce new generations much more rapidly; therefore, it was possible for him to study hundreds of generations of fruit flies and watch the genetic changes happen. I actually found a site on the interned that shows how to replicate some of his work - I might just do that for fun.

Monkeys are evolving today, as are humans - but, as I wrote in my last post and the paragraph above, it is the population that evolves, not the individual. Evolution is not going to make my personal genetic makeup spontaneously change.

Will monkeys or humans evolve into a new species? Maybe (probably in fact, if we are considering all species of primates), but not in our lifetimes, and maybe not for hundreds of thousands of years. It took about a million years for homo erectus to evove into homo sapiens.

Again, this is all IMO. I personally agree with Big Kat that evolution is a fact, and my responses are based on my studies and beliefs.

thanks for the info...i don't think anyone's hating on 'evolution' theories or people who believe in it...just a curious
IMO viewer okay I'll leave

The effects of evolution take thousands... millions of years...to become apparent...

One example of how the human species/body IS changing is the emergence of a new blood type... Type AB blood is only about a thousand years old, before AB there was only A/B/O and their respective variations... It's a small change, but it's a change.

To all those who believe in evolution, all your ancestors were monkeys And you expect me to listen to you????... LOL

Our ancestors were not monkeys. This is the biggest misunderstanding when it comes to evolution. Humans are considered primates by taxonomists (scientists who name new species and study how species are related), great apes like the gorillas, chimpanzees and orangutans. We are not descended from chimps or gorillas-we share a common ancestor with them millions of years in the past. It's been said by many people in many different ways in this thread-believing in evolution is not the same as saying your ancestors were monkeys.

You might share a common ancestor with the monkeys I dont!

I believe that we were all created by God and that we all
have a purpose being on this Earth

So does this "common ancestor" have a name?? lol

I for one do not believe in evolution...I don't like thinking that we came from apes or monkeys or their common ancestor. I prefer to think and believe that God took the time to make us who we are today, and why everyone is so different from each other.

Also for the record, I do not believe in aliens, spaceships driven by aliens, or ghosts etc (although if it was a friendly ghost, and/or one of my ancestors, I would be open to it...but just ghosts!)

A few hundred years ago the church excommunicated Copernicus because he stated the earth was not the center of the universe. This was from the belief, in direct contradiction to biblical doctrin, that man, rather than God, was the center of all creation.

The Hindu religious beliefs teach that the creation and destruction of the universe is a wheel which is constantly turning and repeating itself. Brahma, the Creator and Shiva, the Destroyer and Lord of Chaos, are constantly at odds. All things arise from Brahma, and have arisen countless times before and will arise countless times again.

There are many beliefs about the creation of the universe, and of humans. The account in the bible appears to have origins in ancient texts written in cuniform which have been found in the middle east and pre-dating the biblical writings atributed to Moses.

Stating in absolutes does nothing to make any account any more or less true. I could deny my grandparents were farmers, but that wouldn't change the reality that they were. On the other hand, no one that's alive today was around for the beginning of man, and certainly not for the creation of the world or the universe. All of us have beliefs, most based on some sort of faith, whether in science, or ancient texts, or on religion. Some of these are deeply personal and not open to outside challenge. This does not make those beliefs either right or wrong, just personal.

I, for one, find no conflict in my biblical beliefs with the concept of evolution. For me, believing in a devine guidance for evolution makes much more sense that simply plopping things down already done.

George

My mom once attended a seminar that illustrated how both evolution and creation can coexist. If I recall her telling me correctly(and I'm not sure I do) the whole idea is based on the expulsion of Adam and Eve from Eden.

I believe in evolution personally.

I sometimes wish we could evolve some more!!!!
As a Buddhist I dont go along with the creation theory but hey if it works for you! Tolerance in all things