Hi all,
In a number of other threads, various christians have made reference to evolution in some shape or form. A couple times as analogies that went poorly. Rather then simply say "That's not how it works", I'm going to try to explain it.
The premise is simple: "Each generation, species change a little, and over time create different species." The nitty gritty is a bit more complicated, so here's a little something I'm borrowing from a guy in Fark that goes by Ab33w. Awesome guy btw.
What "evolutionists" believe:
VARIATION:
1) Variation exists in all populations. Hair color, height, strength.
2) Some of that variation is heritable. Hair color, diabetes.
3) Base pair sequences are encoded in a set of self-replicating molecules that form templates for making proteins. DNA exists, replicates itself, and creates proteins.
4) Combinations of genes that did not previously exist may arise via "Crossing over" during meiosis, which alters the sequence of base pairs on a chromosome. Parent's DNA combines into a new and different DNA set.
5) Copying errors (mutations) can also arise, because the self-replication process is of imperfect (although high) fidelity; these mutations also increase the range of combinations of alleles in a gene pool.
6) These recombinations and errors produce a tendency for successively increasing genetic divergence radiating outward from the initial state of the population.
SELECTION:
7) Some of that heritable variation has an influence on the number of offspring able to reproduce in turn, including traits that affect mating opportunities, or survival prospects for either individuals or close relatives.
8) Characteristics which tend to increase the number of an organism's offspring that are able to reproduce in turn, tend to become more common over generations and diffuse through a population; those that tend to decrease such prospects tend to become rarer. (Survival of the fittest.)
9) Unrepresentative sampling can occur in populations which alters the relative frequency of the various alleles for reasons other than survival/reproduction advantages, a process known as "genetic drift". Stuff changes even if it doesn't help or hurt.
10) Migration of individuals from one population to another can lead to changes in the relative frequencies of alleles in the "recipient" population.
SPECIATION:
11) Populations of a single species that live in different environments are exposed to different conditions that can "favor" different traits. These environmental differences can cause two populations to accumulate divergent suites of characteristics.
12) A new species develops (often initiated by temporary environmental factors such as a period of geographic isolation) when a sub-population acquires characteristics which promote or guarantee reproductive isolation from the alternate population, limiting the diffusion of variations thereafter.
SUFFICIENCY:
13) The combination of these effects tends to increase diversity of initially similar life forms over time.
14) Over the time frame from the late Hadean to the present, this becomes sufficient to explain both the diversity within and similarities between the forms of life observed on Earth, including both living forms directly observed in the present, and extinct forms indirectly observed from the fossil record.
That's what Evolution IS. If you have a problem with Evolution, you have a problem with one or more of these fourteen points. Which one is it? Provide evidence that any of the points are incorrect.
While the origins of life are a question of interest to evolutionary biologists and frequently studied in conjunction with researchers from other fields such as geochemistry and organic chemistry, the core of evolutionary theory itself does not rest on a foundation that requires any knowledge about the origins of life on earth. It is primarily concerned with the change and diversification of life after the origins of the earliest living things - although there is not yet a consensus as to how to distinguish "living" from "non-living". (It is a separate issue, but I'd say it's fair to assume that most atheist who dig evolution bet on something called abiogenesis.)
Evolution does NOT demand that all variations are explained this way; that there are no other mechanisms by which variation may arise, be passed, or become prevalent; or that there is no other way life diversifies. Any and all of these may be valid topics for conjecture... but without evidence, they aren't science.
(by abb3w)
Sorry for the semi-spam, but this is a great primer into how evolution is explained and it's a fair shot better then I could do on my own. I'm not a biologist. But I AM a programmer. And the similarities between DNA and code are extreme. Genetic algorithms are a viable form of artificial intelligence. I've used them, they work... moderately well.
Other nifty tidbits:
Lizard to bird transitional fossils: [FONT="]Caudipteryx, Archaeopteryx
Specification example: Horses and donkeys. [/FONT]
Did you know (oxygen-breathing) whales have vestigial leg bones? It leads some to believe that whales' and dolphins' ancestors walked on land and returned to the sea.
Richard Lenski spent a couple of decades setting up and watching for a meaningful and useful mutation in E.Coli. He found it, and has the whole population history to back up his words.
Other mutations: Hairless cats. Panda's gained a pseudo-thumb.
In a number of other threads, various christians have made reference to evolution in some shape or form. A couple times as analogies that went poorly. Rather then simply say "That's not how it works", I'm going to try to explain it.
The premise is simple: "Each generation, species change a little, and over time create different species." The nitty gritty is a bit more complicated, so here's a little something I'm borrowing from a guy in Fark that goes by Ab33w. Awesome guy btw.
What "evolutionists" believe:
VARIATION:
1) Variation exists in all populations. Hair color, height, strength.
2) Some of that variation is heritable. Hair color, diabetes.
3) Base pair sequences are encoded in a set of self-replicating molecules that form templates for making proteins. DNA exists, replicates itself, and creates proteins.
4) Combinations of genes that did not previously exist may arise via "Crossing over" during meiosis, which alters the sequence of base pairs on a chromosome. Parent's DNA combines into a new and different DNA set.
5) Copying errors (mutations) can also arise, because the self-replication process is of imperfect (although high) fidelity; these mutations also increase the range of combinations of alleles in a gene pool.
6) These recombinations and errors produce a tendency for successively increasing genetic divergence radiating outward from the initial state of the population.
SELECTION:
7) Some of that heritable variation has an influence on the number of offspring able to reproduce in turn, including traits that affect mating opportunities, or survival prospects for either individuals or close relatives.
8) Characteristics which tend to increase the number of an organism's offspring that are able to reproduce in turn, tend to become more common over generations and diffuse through a population; those that tend to decrease such prospects tend to become rarer. (Survival of the fittest.)
9) Unrepresentative sampling can occur in populations which alters the relative frequency of the various alleles for reasons other than survival/reproduction advantages, a process known as "genetic drift". Stuff changes even if it doesn't help or hurt.
10) Migration of individuals from one population to another can lead to changes in the relative frequencies of alleles in the "recipient" population.
SPECIATION:
11) Populations of a single species that live in different environments are exposed to different conditions that can "favor" different traits. These environmental differences can cause two populations to accumulate divergent suites of characteristics.
12) A new species develops (often initiated by temporary environmental factors such as a period of geographic isolation) when a sub-population acquires characteristics which promote or guarantee reproductive isolation from the alternate population, limiting the diffusion of variations thereafter.
SUFFICIENCY:
13) The combination of these effects tends to increase diversity of initially similar life forms over time.
14) Over the time frame from the late Hadean to the present, this becomes sufficient to explain both the diversity within and similarities between the forms of life observed on Earth, including both living forms directly observed in the present, and extinct forms indirectly observed from the fossil record.
That's what Evolution IS. If you have a problem with Evolution, you have a problem with one or more of these fourteen points. Which one is it? Provide evidence that any of the points are incorrect.
While the origins of life are a question of interest to evolutionary biologists and frequently studied in conjunction with researchers from other fields such as geochemistry and organic chemistry, the core of evolutionary theory itself does not rest on a foundation that requires any knowledge about the origins of life on earth. It is primarily concerned with the change and diversification of life after the origins of the earliest living things - although there is not yet a consensus as to how to distinguish "living" from "non-living". (It is a separate issue, but I'd say it's fair to assume that most atheist who dig evolution bet on something called abiogenesis.)
Evolution does NOT demand that all variations are explained this way; that there are no other mechanisms by which variation may arise, be passed, or become prevalent; or that there is no other way life diversifies. Any and all of these may be valid topics for conjecture... but without evidence, they aren't science.
(by abb3w)
Sorry for the semi-spam, but this is a great primer into how evolution is explained and it's a fair shot better then I could do on my own. I'm not a biologist. But I AM a programmer. And the similarities between DNA and code are extreme. Genetic algorithms are a viable form of artificial intelligence. I've used them, they work... moderately well.
Other nifty tidbits:
Lizard to bird transitional fossils: [FONT="]Caudipteryx, Archaeopteryx
Specification example: Horses and donkeys. [/FONT]
Did you know (oxygen-breathing) whales have vestigial leg bones? It leads some to believe that whales' and dolphins' ancestors walked on land and returned to the sea.
Richard Lenski spent a couple of decades setting up and watching for a meaningful and useful mutation in E.Coli. He found it, and has the whole population history to back up his words.
Other mutations: Hairless cats. Panda's gained a pseudo-thumb.
) die to flourish. One would think it would be extremely disadvantageous to not be able to see things far away, or near by, or a combination of the two; with the invention of glasses, people no longer suffer from these disadvantages. Instead of adapting naturally and becoming the fittest, man has adapted through his intelligence and augmented his weaknesses to become stronger than any creature could ever be with raw power. Does that make sense?
