Impact of Evolution on Human Thought. Evolution
Farid Gazizov
Impact of Evolution on Human Thought
Evolution
Evolution by definition of Webster dictionary is a gradual development
of simple matters into more complex. When most of the people hear
“evolution” it associates with development or history of the earth.
History of the earth compiles of gazillions of steps. The very first step
in our history is a birth of the earth, which took place over 4 billion
years ago.
“Powerful telescopes reveal new stars coalescing from galactic dust,
just as our sun did more than 4.5 billion years ago. The earth
itself formed shortly thereafter, when rock, dust, and gas circling
the sun condensed into the planets of our solar system. Fossils of
primitive microorganisms show that life had emerged on earth by
about 3.8 billion years ago (Teaching about evolution and the
Natural of Science, ch. 1).”
Many people throughout the centuries have been trying to find
explanations to the questions like: Why are surrounding us things the way
they are?; why some type of animals resemble another one? It was hard to
answer these questions without proper tools, experience and background
knowledge. Even nowadays, not all questions are answered. Darwin was the
first human who succeeded in responding to these questions. He was the
first one who put discovered facts and knowledge available by his time in
one big picture. In attempts to explain the history Darwin created the
most outstanding achievement of human beings that had enormous impact of
our thinking—evolutionary thinking. Ernest Mayer, in his book “One Long
Argument” says following about impact of Darwin’s work on human thinking.
“It is almost impossible for a modern person to project back to the
early half of the nineteenth century and reconstruct the thinking of
this pre-Darwinian period, so great has been the impact of Darwinism
on our views (E. Mayr, pp. 1)
For our further discussion, one should explicitly distinguish between
evolution and evolutionary theory. Evolution (history) is a serious of
facts that occurred since the birth of the earth, while evolutionary theory
is the best way available nowadays to explain why evolution happened the
way it happened, but not otherwise. Both evolution and evolutionary theory
make series of claims. Some of them are secondary and some are primary.
Primary claims if proved wrong, would change entire theory.
Primary Claims of Evolution
The earth is over 4 billion years old. In the past when technology was
not very developed it was hard to prove age of the earth. Scientists had
been aging by measuring the rate of sedimentation. Another method of
defining age, which was used in 1800s, is noticing what kinds of fossil
rocks have. Currently it is done by chemical analysis of composition of
fossil.
“Some elements such as uranium, undergo radioactive decay to produce
to produce other elements. By measuring the quantities of
radioactive elements and elements into which they decay in rocks,
geologists can determine how much time has elapsed since the rock
cooled from initially molten state (Teaching About Evolution and the
Nature of Science).”
Life on the earth did not appear right after appearance of the earth.
The first sings of life were dated about 550 million years ago according
to the oldest fossils. This fact does not specifically mean that where was
not life forms before that time. Life forms were very simple and lacked
hard parts like bones or shells and could rarely preserve in the fossils.
“However, a few pre-Cambrian organisms left traces of their existence.
Some ancient rocks contain stromatolities—the remnants of bacteria
that grew in columns like stacked pancakes (Teaching About Evolution,
ch. 3, pp. 2)
Extinction is a major feature of biological evolution. It is in a
tight connection with natural selection. Natural selection works only by
means of surviving of changes, in some sense useful, and therefore,
striking root. In the consequence, fast increase of the numbers of all
organic matters in geometrical progression, every natural habitat already
filed to the limits by its habitants. From this it follows those more
adapted forms will increase in numbers and less adapted, will decrease in
numbers and become rare. Rarity of the form is a predecessor of the
extinction. Every form represented by small numbers of individuals has big
chances for a complete extinction in consequence of significant climatic
swings within a year or in consequence of temporary increase of enemies.
Species, most abundant of individuals, have the biggest chances for
appearance at any particular time of favorable changes. Rare individuals
will at any particular time change and perfect at a slower pace and in
consequence of that will be defeated in a life struggle with changed and
improved descendants of more common individuals. From this it follows that
since with a passage of time natural selection “creates” new species, than
other species become more rare, and finally extinct.
For example, during laying eggs season, sea turtles hay hundreds of
thousands eggs. While hatching and getting to the ocean most of the
generation becomes easy pray of sea birds. Since just hatched turtles do
not have a hard cover that could protect them, many of them dye in the
ocean. By maturity time only about one out of thousand turtles stay alive.
Currently there are billions of living organisms that inhabit the earth,
but they represent only around one percent of all living organisms that
have ever lived on the earth since its birth. Ninety nine percent dyed
out.[1]
Another example that mechanisms of evolutionary change are
observable and verifiable is the one described by Henry Walter Bates.
“In 1862, Henry Walter Bates made brilliant use of the
Darwinian mechanism of natural selection asking why it is that some
species of butterfly very closely mimic species of butterfly,
essentially quite different, Bates proved beyond doubt that the answer
lies in adaptive advantage brought about by natural selection. The
mimicked insects are highly distasteful to birds who think that they
belong to distasteful species. Bates showed experimentally that birds
learn to avoid distasteful insects, and that the closer the mimic, the
less change there is that the insect will be eaten.”
Secondary Claims of Evolution
When the earth appeared for the first time it was very different from
its current conditions. The surface of the earth was represented by bare
bedrock. At the time of its birth, the earth represented cold matter,
close by its composition to meteorites. Material it was mad of, contained
radioactive elements. In consequence of the heat excretion while
radioactive decomposition of the core and gravitational compression.
However, because of continuous loss of heat through he surface and lack of
radiation heat complete melting of the earth did not happen. In result of
earth’s melting, water and different gases were brought up to the surface.
This water began formation of hydrosphere.
Location of continents and oceans were very different. According to
Wegener’s hypothesize, which he later supported by evidence, earth’s
continents used to be a single land, which was called Pangea. About two
hundred million years ago Africa and South America slowly began their
movement toward their current location. Wegener supported his hypothesize
by geological and biological evidence. At the place where the continents
were aligned, were found fossilized animals and plants dated more than two
hundred million years old. Besides, if Africa and South America had always
been separate continents as they are now, both of them would have had very
different flora and fauna, which are not.
Starting at 1950 up to 1970 evidence begin exposing to the world that
support hypothesis of continent’s slow movement. Sonar mapping of the
ocean floor showed winding, continuous ridges system around the planet.
The ridges appeared where molten matter was coming up from the earth’s
inside.
Not only topography of the earth has changed, but composition
atmosphere has changed as well. Current atmosphere contains a lot of
oxygen, which is result of existence of life. During photosynthesis, green
plants consume water and dioxide and release oxygen in atmosphere. This is
considered to be a secondary claim because even if the earth would not
developed as it considered, it would have no impact on evolutionary theory.
Origin of human being was an interest of human more than origin of
plant and animals. Attempt to understand and explain origin of humans is
expressed in religions, legends of all kind of trails and folks. For a
long period of time science knowledge were abrupt and incomplete in order
to solve a problem of human origin. Only in 1857 Darwin expressed
hypothesis, and in 1871 in his book “The Origin of man and relation to
sex,” convincelly proved that humans originate from pre-existing humanlike,
but were not created by intelligent designer. Role of social factors,
which was pointed out by Darwin, was detailly described by Fredrik Engels
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