Evolution

[ronniemonda9]

Following from the other thread, did evolution actually happen? If so:

what did we come from?

what was before them?

what's still around of what was way back then?

what happened to the other stuff?

why did god do it that way?

why are we here?

what will we change to?

[mibn2cweus]

Most likely so:

something else.

another something else.

atoms.

it became other stuff.

ask him, her, it, them.

to ask and answer lots of questions.

something else.

[vehelpfulguy]

If you really want the answers to these questions get the book A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson.

This is a very readable book where he looks at the whole issue of.......well everything. The Earth, the universe, DNA, atoms, evolution, science, where we have come from and where we are going.

See here

http://www.randomhouse.com/features/billbryson/bb_title/display.pperl?isbn=9780767908184

Do not worry it is not a heavy science book but a fairly easy to read study for the layman, which Bill Bryson admits he is.

[mibn2cweus]

Evolution is the best, most logical explanation available to explain the existence and variety of life on Earth. The Theory of Evolution is based on many observations made and much evidence gathered which logically points to the development of life by a natural process involving cause and effect. As our knowledge pertaining to this increases we understand more and more how we came to be and how we developed into creatures with the ability to ask, �Where did we come from and how did we get here?�

Evolution is a vast subject which is largely misunderstood by most people. I personally do not have much knowledge on this subject but perhaps someone reading this post can recommend a good up-to-date book about our present day understanding of evolution. I myself would probably qualify for the book, �Evolution for Dummies�, but I have not read any books on evolution myself. I think evolution is a fascinating subject but other interests preclude me from its study.

To answer the question, �why are we here?� I would say for some people the study of evolution would be a good reason!

[jimmer]

A very good treatment of evolution is 'THe Ancestor's Tale" by Richard Dawkins. Darwinism explained including what we know and what we speculate about. I'll try to answer your questions briefly:

Did Evolution happen? An evolutionist would say it is happening.

What did we come from? it depends what you mean by "come from". We are certainly apes. Our most recent common ancestor shared with another living species would be shared with Chimps but we have not evolved from chimps.

What was before them? The earth is 4000 million years old. The first life is thought to be about 3700 million years ago. Lots of small steps, blind alleys and extinction's.

What's still around from way back then; What's happened to the other stuff? Not much, rocks etc. Hard bodied organisms would not have evolved for quite sometime in the earths history at around the Cambrian period. Most things decay as part of the carbon cycle.

Why did god do it that way? Occams Razor precludes a supernatural explanation for evolution.

Why are we here? This is a metaphysical question and therefore beyond the remit of science.

What will we change into? Will depend on natural selection. Who's to say we won't go extinct.



jim

[ronniemonda9]

Thanks. mib please can I contact you by Email? jimmer, I'm interested in "ancestor's tale", but it looks like a lot of roaming through various lifeforms? Is it good?

It seems that even though we can explain what occurred by recourse to an evolutionary argument, it's still pretty unlikely that you get a human being from some gloop that got warm and electrified. Who's to say that something DIDN'T have a hand in it? I don't think Occam's Razor is evidence for anything, just a kind of cool approach to things occassionally?

[einsteinsdog]

Strangely evolution theory raises more questions than it answers

My favourite side splitter is the one about whales. Somehow fish lost their scales grew lungs ,lost fins and various other bits and decided life was better on land so became mammals (After first being reptiles). Whether they got lungs before loosing gills is interesting. Along the way some mammals decided life was better in the water so whales went back in along with otters etc, but had to evolve a blowhole before , or else drown so when did the whales evolve the blowhole mechanism?

Its as ludicrous as creationisn

[mibn2cweus]

einsteinsdog, I regret we don�t have all the answers to evolution but then again perhaps we have a lot to look forward to; but I would like to point out that knowledge is not a dead end street. Obtaining the answer to a question, right or wrong, more often then not, opens vistas of new wonderment. If in studying a particular subject we have gaps in our knowledge it can seem very strange to jump from one known fact to the next if we can not see the full cause and effect chain of events in between. However speculation about these steps will sometimes lead to knowledge which will help us fill in these gaps as will research and exploration.

Evolution for science (and science itself for that matter in the scheme of human development), is a relatively new field. Just how many of these gaps we will be able to fill in and when, only time will tell. The value of knowledge gained from researching evolution has probably already provided some benefits, just as space exploration has given us many useful products as a byproduct of technological advances necessary to accomplish this. And as our understand of the theory of evolution evolves I imagine this will be the case here as well.

Impatience to find answers to important questions does not always contribute well to the process.

[mibn2cweus]

einsteinsdog, Of course humor can be a helpful to!

Ronniemonda9, I�m very tight with my e-mail address but if you want to try and persuade me, (I warn you this won�t be easy), or just want to chat, give me a �Hey mibn2cweus�, in the chatter bank and I�ll make a search occasionally to see if I�m wanted.