Why is evolution called evolution?

Question

My understanding is... Chaos varies hairiness across a species, and it also varies the weather. An ice age kills the less hairy, and the more hairy multiply. The word "Evolving" means unrolling, like petals or a map. I don't see any analogy. Perhaps over long timescales one could argue for the unfolding of inevitable characteristics (like eyes arising in both insects and mammls) but the evidence does not suggest any pre-destined (rolled-up) ideas. Maybe the word could be replaced with something less confusing?

Answer 1

The term "evolution" originally refered to a very different idea. The idea was that Eve was created with egg cells, which contained new human beings. Inside the mini-females were even tinier egg cells, some of which contained females with yet still tinier egg cells...

In short, Eve contained at creation every human being who would ever be born. God had even known who each of those women would sleep with so that he could give them egg cells containing children that just happened to look like the father!

By the time Darwin worked out natural selection, evolution was a discredited theory, along with the parallel homunculus idea which was sort of the same thing only with Adam containing all the later generations of humans... With the idea it referred to rejected, the term "evolution" was left hanging. Few people really spend a lot of time referring to discounted theories..

Darwin did not use the term evolution at all in the first several printings of his book. he used "descent with modification". Well "descent with modification" is, while accurate, not eactly easy on the tongue. It's just too much. People started to use the term evolution (or, sometimes "the new evolution") to cover it. Darwin personally hated the term, since his theory was specifically NOT evolution, since there was no pre-defined scroll to unroll. It was exactly that connotation that he wanted to avoid!

He fought the use of the term for years before giving up and recognizing that, appropriate or no, there is no arguing with linguistic descent with modification, and including it in some of the later editions of "Origin of Species".

Ironically, "creationism" originally referred to something else as well. It first refered to the doctrine that souls were created by god specifically for each human, as opposed to the idea that God created souls at the dawn of time (or whenever) and kept them in storage until a new child was formed.

It amuses me that original creationism is quite compatible with evolution, but original evolution is a creationist doctrine.

For more information on creationism and evolution, see:

http://wiki.cotch.net/index.php/Main_Page

Answer 2

New words are invented all the time because we don't have the proper word to describe something. In the case of evolution, it's from the Latin, which means unfolding or more clearly, the development of something complex from something simple. Evolution was chosen as the word which best describes the process that was discovered by Darwin and Wallace taking place in nature. The opposite would be devolution, going from complex to simple. Yes, you're right about the word itself doesn't suggest pre-destined ideas, but it does suggest development and change, which is the main idea of natural development.

Answer 3

Actually the word evolution is only used once in the Origin of Species on the last page. He didn't want to upset the religious world by what he had discovered. Hence "Descent with Modification"

Answer 4

Hahaha! I guess that we should blame Darwin for picking a confusing word. But, there are lots of words that don't perfectly fit their definition, so I say stick with the word we have now so as not to confuse people.

Answer 5

You look at things to vaguely. Evolution by nat. selection means they change/adapt to their surroundings over time. Basically they evolve to new things.

Answer 6

If you're evil enough, you'll be condemned to hell like Darwin for his ideas. Then you can ask him yourself.