Week 4

1. Why is the theory of evolution so important in understanding how human beings behave?

Evolution is currently the best explanation of human origins. fourteen thousand years ago, Homo sapiens, our ancestors, were teetering on the brink of extinction. But humans rose from humble beginnings like other species, eventually displacing other ancient human populations that already existed, such as Neanderthals. In the long years only human beings can spread throughout the Earth, go to the moon, and later to Mars. Unbelievable as it may be, human history is a miracle that can be explained by the theory of evolution. Extreme climate and environmental changes fuel our creativity, which in turn leads to technological advances. All of the great talents of humans today were etched in our genes tens of thousands of years ago.

Likewise, a strong capacity for adaptation is another gift that humans have acquired in their evolution. "organisms evolve over time due to differential reproductive successes and how such advances, preserved over time, tend on average to convey an adaptive character fitted for longer survival and thus suitable for increased fecundity" (Lane, Pg. 8). This means that no matter what happens in the world, we have the means to adapt. This will become part of our culture and will be passed on to our children and grandchildren like a gene from one generation to the next. The continuation of human civilization is also a miracle. In the cruelty of nature, “Over 90% of all creatures that have ever lived died childless, but not a single one of your ancestors suffered that fate.” (The Magic of Evolution). It also reflects the strength of human creativity and adaptability.

References:

Lane, David, Mt. San Antonio College “Evolutionary Limits: The Darwin-Wallace Debate” February 12, 2016

Lane, David, The Magic of Evolution: Daniel Dennett's Card Trick Analogy, 2013

2. Which questions do you think evolutionary theory cannot answer?

Evolutionary theory is still a hypothesis and not a complete theorem. The biggest problem is that mankind has not found decisive evidence so far, such as fossils in a transitional state in human evolution. “In general, in order to document transitions between species, you specimens separated by only tens of thousands of years (e.g. every 20,000-80,000 years). If you have only one specimen for hundreds of thousands of years (e.g. every 500,000 years), you can usually determine the order of species, but not the transitions between species. If you have a specimen every million years, you can get the order of genera, but not which species were involved. And so on” (Lane, p.g164). Transitional fossils are fossil organisms that retain the life forms of both their ancestors and their evolved descendants. Their absence has led to the inability of evolutionary theory to show us the full picture of human evolution. Even though evolutionary theory has sound arguments for the existence of natural selection and evolutionary processes, the current state of knowledge about consciousness and spiritual consciousness still has some limitations that cannot be explained by science. Warwin-Wallace once confused and “felt that human consciousness was of such a high order of organization that natural selection was inefficient to explain it” (The Darwin-Wallace Debate). In Addition, evolution attempts to explain the fundamental question of the development of the existence of life, then the question about the origin of life is unavoidable. If evolution does not point to the ultimate question: the origin of life, then all arguments are only sketchy and without foundation.

References:

Lane, David, Mt. San Antonio College “Darwin 101: Evolution, Consciousness, and Reflections” February 19, 2016

Lane, David, The Darwin-Wallace Debate on the Mind of Man / How Far Does Natural Selection Extend? 2013