Evolution theory make sense?

Question

I asked a boy in school does evolution make sense to you? he said its all Greek to me.
Than I asked a Greek and he said nonsense why talk about it.
Im so confused about evolution?

Answer 1

One of the dangers of evolution is that it makes *TOO* MUCH SENSE. It is actually incredibly simple and logical! It makes so much sense WHEN YOU UNDERSTAND IT, that it's tempting to believe it on logical grounds alone, and forget that a good theory not only has to make sense, but it has to have *evidence* to support it.

But guess what? The evidence is there too! Tons of evidence. Fossil evidence, genetic evidence, molecular evidence, comparative anatomy, vestigial and homologous structures, geographic distribution of species, etc. etc., all supporting the same idea.

But purely with respect to the how simple it is:

Natural selection requires three ingredients:
1. Variation. (E.g. some individuals within a species are hairier/taller/lighter/whatever than others individuals).
2. Selection. (Hairier individuals do better and make more babies in one environment, or lighter individuals do better and make more babies in another environment).
3. Time. (As in *gobs* of it, millions, billions of generations.)

That's it. People who focus on probabilities, or say the evolution is about randomness or blind "luck" think it's all about #1. Randomness only comes into play as a source of variation. There's nothing random about the idea that hairier animals live longer and make more babies in colder environments.

And there's nothing in there that says that if some members of a species evolve into a new species, that *all* members must evolve (i.e. that the former species must disappear). E.g., the hairier individuals may explore colder environments and eventually become a new species, while the former species (less hairy) thrives quite happily in the warmer environment.

And the "half-evolved organ" argument is also silly ... e.g. half-a-wing with crappy feathers *is* useful even if the proto-bird can't yet fly ... if intermediate feathers keep it warm, and intermediate wings let it flap out of danger better (think of a chicken), then that's enough selective advantage that it will live longer and make more babies than its buddies with smaller wings or crappier feathers. Intermediate stages can invariably be shown to be useful.

That's it. It's a *really* simple idea. Hope it's no longer Greek to you.

Answer 2

The answers so far given to this question are of
no help. The third one is quite wrong. This is too
large a question to permit of a short explanation.
Briefly not only does evolution "make sense" but,
as T. Dobzhansky said, nothing in biology makes
sense except in the light of evolution. One thing
that makes understanding evolution a little hard
is that the word really refers to three different
questions. One, has evolution occurred; two, how
does it happen; three, what routes did it follow,
that is, what things were the ancestors of others?

The answer to the first question is yes, definitely.
There is plenty of evidence of the occurrence of
evolution. To deny it would require denying the
validity of many different areas of science - geology, astronomy, biology, chemistry and others.

The second question is not as definitely answered.
Natural selection seems to be the main mechanism, but others are apparently involved.
There is still argument among scientists about the
how of evolution, but not about whether evolution
has occurred.

The third question is almost impossible to answer definitely. From fossil and biochemical evidence
we can suggest which things might be ancestors
of humans or of horses (the two groups most
commonly used as examples), but we can not
say for sure that any particular fossil is surely the
ancestor of either.

Answer 3

Man didn't evolve from apes, apes and man evolved from a common ancestor. Man adapted one way, the ape another. The environment and environmental change didn't "cause" the change, it simply selected a survivor. And, just guessing here but maybe the change was an ice age and maybe the surviving apes lived further south while the survivings homonids lived further north and survived because of better brain-powered adaptive ability (they could make tools, fires, whatnot). So that covers getting smarter. Better looking? that's purely an subjective statement (I have it on good authority that every female elephant seal ever made is postively HOT to every male elephant seal). Weaker...that IS a good question but do we know how strong the common ancestor was? Possibly that's the first evidence that a good brain can out wit pure muscle, eh? Any race car driver will tell you that the right engine depends on the track. Bigger is not always better. That's just my take, I'm not a paleontologist.

Answer 4

no the evolution theory does not make sense. It still has so many "holes" in the theory. is it logical that over millions of years all the life on earth came from some cosmic juice? Its unrational. also if life was evolving wouldn't they die along the way. For example, an animal with half-evolved organs would die. Don't believe in evolution. It is a bunch of non-sense whos real incentive is to profit universities and scientists with money for bogus reasearch

Answer 5

Dictionary definition of evolution: # A gradual process in which something changes into a different and usually more complex or better form.

I dont believe in evolution because if something completely changes the former species will be no more. So there would not be monkey's anymore if we evolved from them.

Answer 6

What's to understand?

Everything....EVERY-THING...is constantly changing. That's the essence of evolution.

Answer 7

stop asking people on the street, get a science book and read for yourself. the information is much more reliable.