Instant evolution vs gradual slow evolution

[mathinspiration]

Most of the theory of evolution is a slow gradual adapting change to fit into one's environment yet in some places in the world that would mean instant death since it is so cold to wait a few seconds much less a next generation. Let's take the Arctic Circle or the Antarctica. I want to know also about the Beluga Whale. This animal looks like an iceberg underneath the water. That must have taken years to adapt and to lose the dorsal fin to glide under iceberg in the cold water.

 

[MoneyGuy]

What is instant evolution?

 

[ViaCrucis]

Most of the theory of evolution is a slow gradual adapting change to fit into one's environment yet in some places in the world that would mean instant death since it is so cold to wait a few seconds much less a next generation. Let's take the Arctic Circle or the Antarctica. I want to know also about the Beluga Whale. This animal looks like an iceberg underneath the water. That must have taken years to adapt and to lose the dorsal fin to glide under iceberg in the cold water.

Not all adaptations happen at once, nor are environmental factors static.

For example, one might wonder about the evolution of bird flight, how did this evolve and presume that feathers were an evolutionary adaptation for flight. But the presumption wouldn't be accurate--as feathers (of different sorts and varieties) show up across diverse lineages of dinosaurs. They are most well documented among therapod dinosaurs (which includes modern birds), but can be found in distant groups, such as ceratopsians* (the most well known ceratopsian being triceratops). That means feathers are prevalent among non-flying dinosaurs; so feathers didn't evolve for flight, but rather flight was a secondary consequence to feathers. The primary purpose of feathers was probably insulation (to regulate body temperature) and/or display (think of modern birds which use their feathers in displays to attract mates or warn off predators or competition).

*fossil remains of psittacosaurus, a small ceratopsian, notice the feather structures on the tail:

Artistic reconstruction:

The point being that there can be secondary or tertiary advantages to certain adaptations and mutations besides a primary. A secondary effect of hominid bipedalism is that it freed up our forelimbs for more dexterous tool usage, and freeing up hands for tool use meant that we could contribute more brain power to the application of tool use and problem solving--leading to bigger and smarter brains. Bipedalism probably was most advantageous because it meant our ancestors could look above tall savanna grass to look out for predators, but it also meant freeing up our hands, and freeing up our hands meant tool use, and bigger brains (with bigger brains, of course, meaning more complicated tool use).

-CryptoLutheran

 

[sfs]

Most of the theory of evolution is a slow gradual adapting change to fit into one's environment yet in some places in the world that would mean instant death since it is so cold to wait a few seconds much less a next generation. Let's take the Arctic Circle or the Antarctica.

If you drop an animal from the tropics into the arctic, it won't evolve; it will die. But an animal that's living in a cold subarctic climate has both the opportunity and the ability to evolve to handle full arctic conditions over many generations.

 

[Strathos]

What is instant evolution?

It happens in Pokemon.

 

[MoneyGuy]

I'd say that instant evolution is impossible.

Evolution requires time. Lots of time.

 

[Tayla]

Most of the theory of evolution is a slow gradual adapting change to fit into one's environment yet in some places in the world that would mean instant death since it is so cold to wait a few seconds much less a next generation.

I'm sure the evolutionists have an explanation for any example you can come up with.

 

[Gottservant]

The thing that annoys me is that Evolution deals with choices, as if the making of the choice has no relevance.

For example, brains emerged to help prey escape predator, but the nature of mindfulness that utilized that brain is assumed a given - you are in a sense a slave to the escape heuristic, until you manage to keep your silence and survive without pursuit.

Thus, we have many with brains, but few who will meditate on what it means to have a brain - to the extent that their fear of the predator discontinues and allows them to use their brain for other purposes, not counting the possibility of going back to using the brain to escape predators.

If I say "you are evolved, cranially" there is nothing in that statement that ensures I will use the brain in my cranium properly - I may even have other members of my species depending on me to use my brain for the species' sake, and yet because I believe myself to match the observation, I am not compelled within myself to do anything of the sort: I am devolving the species, taking up space that could have saved someone.

 

[Pastor Moe]

i rate instant evolution 9/11 because its suspicious and requires more investigation

 

[Job 33:6]

Most of the theory of evolution is a slow gradual adapting change to fit into one's environment yet in some places in the world that would mean instant death since it is so cold to wait a few seconds much less a next generation. Let's take the Arctic Circle or the Antarctica. I want to know also about the Beluga Whale. This animal looks like an iceberg underneath the water. That must have taken years to adapt and to lose the dorsal fin to glide under iceberg in the cold water.

Well, there is no reason to suggest that the environment in which the beluga whale lived in (or its ancestors), was always cold. For example, the whales ancestors may have lived in warm water, then as the whales migrated, they gradually evolved while simultaneously migrating further and further into colder waters.

 

[The Barbarian]

Observed evolution is gradual, working in a stepwise manner. Each step has to be at least neutral in terms of survival, and normally has to be beneficial. The evolution of a new enzyme system in bacteria was observed to be so, in a series of steps, each one increasing the efficiency of the enzyme.

How fast the gradual steps occur can vary a great deal, but instant evolution is rare in animals. It can happen in plants by polyploidy, whereby speciation can occur in one generation. Polyploidy is when multiple copies of each chromosome are produced. Normally, polyploidy is fatal in mammals, but it's fairly common in plants.