did we come from monkeys? Has man evolved from the apes, or not?

Question

So sad that I am still asking this question 80 years after the scopes
trial. So sad that, not only is this issue not settled yet, but that there
is a stronger movement now than ever before to bring creationism back into the school...maybe the question I should be asking is, are we DEVOLVING" our educational system? Are we going to
be teaching students that the earth is flat, and that there are four
basic elements of matter. Will we be teaching students how do make stone tools after that?

Answer 1

Those are good questions, but since (a) the ape question has been asked so many times in here and (b) some have answered it for you so well, I shall focus entirely on the second part of your question, our devolution.

Indeed, the US American public school system is suffering, we all know that. But aside from guns and drugs, it has been dealing with an issue that should have never been a problem, and that, as you indicate since at least some 80 years. With that, once again, the American school system is pretty much unique; you will be hard pressed to find anything like the discussion about how to treat evolutionary biology in the classroom in other countries. Mexico, whch truly has a very strong religious foundation among its populous, has no difficulties what so ever to teach evolution.

What then is it that makes evolution so frightening to many Americans? Well, for one it is a misunderstanding of what the theory is all about. A point that supports your notion of devolution; without proper education, there cannot be proper assessment of ideas. (That's why I painfully read my way through intelligent design literature of the new type. The medieval one was far more fun to read, since far more elaborate and intelligent. Pun intended...) There is also a very old notion that tenaciously maintains a strong currency among radical evangelicals, namely the idea that evolutionary biology is the cause of all evils such as communism and fascism. As crazy as this seems (and actually is), the origin of the fear is not to be ignored.

William Jennings Bryan, on of the central figures for the creationist side is commonly viewed as a bible-belt fanatic with fairly little between his ears. An unfair assessment, really, since the man had something to say. Bryan was the Democratic presidential nomination in 1896 and was a man of great moral values. He was a pacifist through and through, and he was a great abolitionist. What Bryan did not like about Darwinism was that the idea of struggle was at its center (from what he understood) and that therefore humans must have been the product of hate, not of divine love. For any believer an understandable immediate, though scientifically underinformed response. What is more, Bryan experienced a very awaful ethics that sprung forth from the works of a man who gave us the formula "survival of the fittest". No, not Darwin, but Herbert Spencer. And I am talking of course of social Darwinism. As an observer in Germany during the days prior to World War I, Bryan experienced how the German military had internalized the notion of social Darwinsim and argued their case of war and domination this way. For a pacifist and a man who did not believe in the social stratification of either capitalism or any other social model, such an idea must have been appalling.

Now, todays anti-evolutionists are not pacifists anymore, and they rarely have enough between the ears to rival a William Jennings Bryan. But their suspicions were spawned then, and like Bryan, today's activists against evolution think little of learning about the theory first before criticizing it. Answers in YA demonstrate that impressively.

I guess, what I am trying to say is, and forgive the logorhea, that fear is a great motivator, and acting out of fear often makes problems bigger than they were in the first place. Having conservative politicians use this fear to ralley their supporters doesn't help one bit...

Oh well, I will pray for more strength of people to face the world without such fears - and no, I am not being facetious. I mean it. For I am religious, but do not feel that theology and science are at all irreconcilable.

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

Contrary to popular belief and not so popular, Man did not evolve from apes! A new study has found that the reverse is true -- Apes evolved from man. Yes, I know that initially sounds preposterous, but as I said just a sentence ago, new research has proved beyond a doubt that man came before the apes in evolutionary order.
There are various forms of apes. Some have recently evolved while others are evoluted from many generations back. They are the ones that stick out the most. The recent ones have very slight features that are different from humans. They even look and act like humans and it will only be after many offspring that the features will be prominent enough to tell them on sight. Some apes have even reached high levels in the human society, even to the point where some have become scientists and are even now studying whether man evolved from apes. Some have even gone into politics. It's estimated that over 70% are in the house of Representatives.

Answer 3

The apes or hominoids belong to the suborder Anthropoidea and the infraoder of Old World Monkeys (Catarrhini). Hominoidae is a superfamily within this infraoder, the other superfamily being Cercopithecoidea.

There are 3 main families of apes: Hominidae, which includes the 3 species of great apes in Africa today: gorillas (3 subspecies), chimpanzees and bonobos (aka pygmy chimps), and humans;
Pongidae, which includes only the orang utan in Sumatra and Borneo;
Hylobatidae, or lesser apes, which includes the gibbons and siamang of Southeast Asia.

The Homo Sapeins have and apes 85% common arrangements of DNA but it is the arrangement of DNA that leads to speciation so why not other forms of life are considered to evolve from each other.

I am in support of religious view of creation Like in Islam Humans were created by Allah the only God and some of them were transformed into monkeys and pigs from Jewish people of Israel due to their disobediance.

Answer 4

Evolution is a fact.

Sopme people, for no other reason than vanity, fear and a lack of comprehension chose to reject the science behind it.

Random mutations in genetic code occur from generation to generation. FACT. The random mutations will either help or hinder the beings' ability to cope and produce offspring to which the mutations can be passed on. FACT. Over BILLIONS of years, these random mutations has accountted for every living species that has ever graced the face of the Earth. F. A. C. T.

Answer 5

I see what you're saying, and you're certainly not alone to have concern about the 'movement' to impose creationism in public schools. However, I would argue that the saddest aspect of this issue is not that it still remains 80 years after the Scopes trial. I find it even sadder ('frightening' should be the word, really) that after nearly 250 years as a 'free' nation, there are still Americans who apparently feel that our first amendment rights need not apply universally - that 'freedom of religion' should not prevent Christianity from gaining the highest priority. This form of religious zealotry, aside from being highly offensive to non-Christian Americans and even to more open-minded Christians like myself, threatens the very crux of our constitutional freedoms. Fortunately, there are folks like Bobby Henderson, who have waged effective campaigns against this creationism 'movement' (see link below). He makes the simple point that if we were to incorporate a 'Christian fundamentalist' view of creation into public schooling, then we would be constitutionally-bound to incorporate ALL religious interpretations of creation - a feat that would be, of course, completely impractical.

Bills S is hinting at an even larger radical movement than the one of which we are speaking, although it is certainly important. History has shown again and again that radical Christian nationalists (or radical nationalists groups of any religion) can be extremely dangerous. It is no secret that infamous dictators like
Adolf Hitler and Francisco Franco gained their power by appealing to Christian nationalists. I think that if the U.S. were to dip into a prolonged period of economic depression at this point, there is fair chance that we would be seeing a more Nazi-esque America. That is, we would be saying 'hello' to a more authoritarian government and 'good bye' to many of our personal freedoms (freedom of religion included).

Answer 6

the religious nuts are gaining strength in America as have the Muslims in the middle east,...this is extremely upsetting as the US extremest will have power to ban books( control of Internet in school, etc) to bring back creationism...when religious nuts are in power, the US will become a third world country devoid of the "can do discovery" of scientific entrepreneurship....this is already happening with stem-cell research...yes, there are several academic books which proves the evolution of man..from apelike ancestors..also, another source is the evolution of religion in the the book, "The Dawn of Man" ... the power of religion, puts government power in the hands of religious nuts by telling that you have a "afterlife"....pyramids are built,, huge tombs built and loaded with the leaders killed horses, killed servants to help him in after life....this was only for the religious nuts and the same leaders....the common man did not...for example, the Egyptians had tombs for the leaders and Pharaohs ,,the masses did not.... simply put, religious difference is the major cause of wars and stifling of scientific education. you can witness this on TV at this moment.....beware, the Inquisition arm of religious nuts is on the rise.. due to this Q&A,.you and i are in their data systems now

Answer 7

Human and Ape had a common ancestor .. Humans did not evolve from Apes.. also, monkeys are not the same as apes!!

Answer 8

no he did not..
if this was true , why didn't other monkeys evolve in the past centuries?! there is some similarities but we are definitely NOT the same!
religions says that mankind are descendants of Adam and Eve who were created by God.

Answer 9

Want a banana ?

Answer 10

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