Evolution? Sounds pretty dull to me?

Question

Evolution is kind of a messed up theory.

My question is that if living things evolved from primal ooze that spontaneously came to life, would the living organisms be able to survive during the process of evolving?

Usually scientists say that the evolution process takes millions of years right? Well I want to know, how can the species survive with and evolving organ?

Take a look at humans - or even four-legged creatures, insects, etc. If their sophisticated internal and external systems needed to evolve to survive like they do today, how can they survive during the evo process?

Seeing how sophisticated our systems are, they need to exist immideately in order for us to even have a chance at life!!!!

Answer 1

First of all...Evolution is no longer simply a theory. It has been proven so well by now, that it can truly be considered a fact. Secondly, picture climbing a flight of stairs. Each step is a separate action and an individual success. Evolution is the whole stair case. (That never ends.) It's a long, slow and never ending process. Survival is the driving force behind it all. Every life form has a survival instinct built it. When something adapts to it's environment better it increases it's chance of survival. This is true for the present and for the future. Life reproduces so that it can survive into the future as well. I understand your thinking in the phrasing of your question. As live developed it somehow found a way of living and reproducing even in a primitive form and kept improving along the way. With each step or generation it got better and better and more complicated. Those that could not adapt or were flawed in some way...died out. The best lived on are were now even better when they produced off spring. Human's bodies are much more complicated now but our brains are also. We are simply farther up the staircase. That's the beauty of Evolution. Evolution is so obvious now in life with all the examples to look that anyone that still questions it, is just not looking at all the facts surrounding it. (Or they are in denial.) Us human beings, for example are only here now because of the dinosaur extinction that happened. That extinction allowed the small mammals to evolve into US. What will we evolve into before the next asteroid hits again? That's the real question. I hope this helps you see the whole big picture and answers your question.

Answer 2

I don't know why it sounds dull, but oh well. Evolution is mostly a small step by small step change. Once the first amino acids came together in a self-replicating configuration, that started the whole thing. Each imperfect duplication of the original either survived or not. If the difference made the organism survive and have more off-spring, that change was "selected" by nature. If the change made it harder to survive, that change was "deselected".

There were no "almost" organs. Each functioned fine and allowed for survival and reproduction. Many changes didn't survive. Probably far, far more didn't make it than did. That's why it takes so long for evolution to work. The change has to work and then have time to spread throughout the population from one generation to the next. THis doesn't mean that the population that doesn't have the change dies out right away. It just means that the part of the population with the change has more off spring eventually takes over.

Different species are created in a similar fashion. One member of a population is different and it's off spring are different. Both the original population and the newer changed population survive. Over time, the differences add up and they become a completely different species but the original species is still around. This is what happened with apes and man. Just because man evolved doesn't mean that apes had to disappear.

Some changes are neutral. They neither help nor hinder. I guess eye color is one of these changes. Since there seems to be no real benefit nor harm between brown or black or blue eyes, they just mix in and co-exist.

It is my opinion that evolution is currently stalled. With the advent of technology, natural selection is limited. In the past, when an organism or animal had a problem that kept it from reproducing, that problem ended. Today, doctors help many people live a long, fulfilling life who would not have reached maturity. They have off spring and nature has no chance to select or deselect. I'm not trying to be goulish nor am I trying to suggest that these people should not be helped. I'm just saying that without the technology, they wouldn't have kids. I am for technology and helping people live long, healthy lives.

I hope this helps. I also hope it wasn't too long.

Answer 3

It sounds as if your understanding or perception of evolution is based on a lot of info from groups promoting Intelligent Design. I could raise just as many questions about humans or other species that scream evolution:

Why do humans grow gills temporarily during gestation?
Why do humans have a tailbone?
Why do humans have a "dive reflex" (wherein infants will close their mouths, open their eyes, and be completely at ease in the water?)
Why do whales have vestigial rear legs?
I could go on for...well, a long time.

That said, it IS still amazing to think that we came from "primordial ooze" by chance! But, as others have said on Yahoo! Answers, the theory of evolution evolves. It is tested and retested and always comes out stronger. (the rantings of the IDers notwithstanding) Stuff that was perhaps in doubt many years ago, today is accepted. Newer theories, like how the whole process got started, will become more accepted over the years as we figure out ways to test them.

The questions you ask would fall under the category of Irreducible Complexity. (But then you probably already knew that.) They are not a strong argument! Using them is like bringing a knife to a gunfight. Wikepedia has a decent summary of ID.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligent_design

If you dare, read something from the "other side", like the book listed below. And remember, science is not based on faith, its based on evidence. A belief or concept only becomes a theory when there is NO conflicting evidence. And then the scientist publishes his work so everyone can see it and try to rip it apart. Sometimes they succeed in blowing it up (e.g. tabletop fusion). Sometimes they fail, again and again (e.g. evolution).

Answer 4

Evolution isn't a process that happens to you while you're alive. It happens between lifes, during when you give rise to offspring.

Whether that offspring is able to survive in the future or not is called Natural Selection, and was one of the key factors of evolution (nowadays many species undergo an artificial manmade genetic drift called selective breeding).

And as far as developing organs:
We actually started out as single celled lipids that didn't do much, except reproduce, and mitochondria, our powerplants inside our cells, were separate organisms.

One day our cell ate a mitochondria and learned to work with it to generate energy for its own use. Now the mitochondria are called organelles, and are a vital part of our existence.

Ofcourse that's not to say a hungry monkey ate a liver and suddenly its grandkids had one, evolving real organs is a different story.

Answer 5

evolution is a random mutation in genes that results in change over time. some organisms within a population have certain traits that may or may not help them to survive. if they do, the trait becomes an adaptation and it is passed on to the offspring. eventually, the whole population evolves and is considered a new species. as for organs evolving, they need some sort of base template. take the eye for example. it started as a plate that could tell if it was light or dark. eventually, the plate was curved to tell if the object moved or stayed still. the curved plate then eventually acquired liquid to produce the modern eye. if an organism is unable to adapt fast enough to the selective pressures, it will eventually die out.

Answer 6

Populations evolve. Individuals flourish or perish.

Answer 7

evolving is such a slow process that a race does not realize it. humans are evolving to be taller than our ancestors. i dont understand your questions. your saying that living things have to die to evolve? your quetions dont make any sense. go back to highschool.