Misconceptions about Evolution

Biography: My name is Zach Chase. I love listening to music. When I have free time I like to hang out with friends, go to parties, and do crossword puzzles.

Essay:
Evolution has not been observed- The correct definition of evolution is a change in the gene pool of a population over time. An example of this is insects developing a resistance to pesticides over the period of a few years. Evidence isn't limited to seeing something happen before your eyes. Evolution makes predictions about what we would expect to see in the fossil record, genetic sequences, or geographical distribution of species. These predictions have been verified many times over. The number of observations supporting evolution is overwhelming.

Evolution violates the 2nd law of thermodynamics- The second law of thermodynamics says that no process is possible in which the sole result is the transfer of energy from a cooler to a hotter body. Entropy is an indication of unusable energy and often corresponds to intuitive notions of disorder or randomness. Creationists misinterpret the 2nd law to say that things invariably progress from order to disorder. But, they neglect the fact that life is not a closed system. The sun provides more than enough energy to drive things. However, not only is life irrelevant to the 2nd law, but order from disorder is common in nonliving systems, too. Snowflakes, sand dunes, tornadoes, stalactites, graded river beds, and lightning are just a few examples of order coming from disorder in nature; none require an intelligent program to achieve that order. If order from disorder is supposed to violate the 2nd law of thermodynamics, why is it being present everywhere in nature?

Evolution says that organisms reproduce with only small changes between generations.For example, animals might have appendages which are longer or shorter, thicker or flatter, lighter or darker than their parents. Occasionally, a change might be on the order of having four or six fingers instead of five. Once the differences appear, the theory of evolution calls for differential reproductive success. For example, maybe the animals with longer appendages survive to have more offspring than short-appendaged ones. All of these processes can be observed today. They obviously don't violate any physical laws.


The theory of evolution says that life originated, and evolution proceeds, by random chance- There is probably no other statement which is a better indication that the arguer doesn't understand evolution. Chance plays a large part in evolution, but this argument completely ignores the fundamental role of natural selection, and selection is the very opposite of chance. Chance, in the form of mutations, provides genetic variation, which is the raw material that natural selection has to work with. Harmful mutations usually die out quickly, so they don't interfere with the process of beneficial mutations accumulating. Atoms and molecules arrange themselves not purely randomly, but according to their chemical properties. In the case of carbon atoms especially, this means complex molecules are sure to form spontaneously, and these complex molecules can influence each other to create even more complex molecules.


Evolution is only a theory; it hasn't been proved- evolution means a change in allele frequencies over time. Evolution is an indisputable fact. Most people seem to associate the word "evolution" mainly with common descent, the theory that all life arose from one common ancestor. Many people believe that there is enough evidence to call this a fact, too. However, common descent is still not the theory of evolution, but just a fraction of many different theories. The theory of evolution not only says that life evolved, it also includes mechanisms, like mutations, natural selection, and genetic drift, which go a long way towards explaining how life evolved. Calling the theory of evolution "only a theory" is, strictly speaking, true, but the idea it tries to convey is completely wrong. The argument rests on a confusion between what "theory" means in informal usage and in a scientific context. A theory, in the scientific sense, is a coherent group of general propositions used as principles of explanation for a class of phenomena. Generally speaking, scientific theories differ from scientific laws only in that laws can be expressed more concisely. Being a theory implies self-consistency, agreement with observations, and usefulness. Proof, in the mathematical sense, is possible only if you have the luxury of defining the universe you're operating in. In the real world, we must deal with levels of certainty based on observed evidence. The more and better evidence we have for something, the more certainty we assign to it; when there is enough evidence, we label the something a fact, even though it still isn't 100% certain.