What does it mean when people say evolution?

Question

does it mean that we as human beings evolved from monkeys?

i really don't know, don't want to offend anybody.

Answer 1

No - we didn't evolve from monkeys and the theory of evolution doesn't say we did. It does say that we share a common ancestor.

For a brief overview, try wiki here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolution

Answer 2

Evolution is the theory that describes how life changes over time. Some of these changes include extinction (end of a species), split evolution (a small group gets isolated and changes differently from the big group because they're in different environments), and divergent evolution (a big group has a trait that's expressed in two ways, and over time, the difference grows larger and larger until they are separate species).

The method of evolution is genetics, mutation, and natural selection. That is: the DNA contains information about how to make various proteins. Sometimes, the DNA is changed -- a bit of information is changed, some information is added, some information is lost, due to imperfections in the way DNA is copied. Some of these changes allow carriers to survive better and have more offspring, so these changes spread through the population over many generations. Some of these changes are bad and the carriers survive less well with fewer offspring, so the bad gene goes away. Most of those changes are bad enough that they kill the first carrier before it even has a chance to reproduce and spread the bad gene.

More properly stated: Evolution is the change in the frequency of these genes in a population. That's it. That's all there is to evolution. Everything else is just a waiting game.

Answer 3

Not just that we as human beings evolved from common ancestors with monkeys and later apes, but all species came from original single cell life forms and evolved to fit different positions in the environment. Really there is a rich fossil record to show it, along with genetic evidence.

Answer 4

Many different answers have been posted to your question, and yet none are complete.

The simple answer to your first question is that living organisms change to meet the demands of their environment. Poor adaptations die, neutral and beneficial adaptations move to the next generation.

To your second question, we do not come from monkeys or apes. In reality, monkeys, apes and humans had common origins but each has evolved into something else.

What drives evolution? Change and selection.

Change in the form of emergent order in chaotic systems (See first reference), random transcription error and for complex beings, gene swapping through sexual reproduction. Emergent order explains why there is an explosion of life at several points in the fossil record. Transcription error provides change in asexual reproduction and is an extremely slow process but does occur at a regular rate, it can be tracked in the DNA of all living things. Sexual reproduction allows for a faster exploration of a fitness landscape, that being the reason it is embraced by so many complex organisms.

Selection is the simple part of all this. It is best summed up by the two pronged "The fast strong wolf takes down the slow weak caribou." The caribou does not live another day to breed, its genetic code does not make it to the next generation. The wolf on the other hand gets fed, remains strong and passes its genes on to the next generation. The remaining caribou, who were faster and stronger, breed a generation that is faster and stronger. Now, only the fastest and strongest wolves survive to breed. Until pack hunting is "discovered" in social cooperation (memes), countered by herding.

My example leads into a common misconception that evolution is about the best and brightest. This is a common error as evolution is always portrayed as a positive force. My next example of evolution is a 'negative' one. Sickle Cell anemia (SCA) is a genetic disorder of the red blood cells. If the individual receives the SCA gene from both parents they will die a horribly painful and early death. Receiving only one copy of the gene usually sentences the individual to death in adulthood. Why would this gene be selected for? One copy of the gene provides immunity to malaria and the individual does not die in childhood from malaria. They live long enough to pass the gene to the next generation.

Is my answer complete? Far from it. My references below are a great way to introduce the basics of evolution. After that, pick up anything on evolution by Richard Dawkins.

Answer 5

No.
Evolution is the adaptation and change that ALL living beings, both flora and fauna, undergo over time.
Humans did not evolve from monkeys. That's an inane question.
Humans are primates, like monkeys, apes, orangutangs and chimpanzees. We share a common ancestor. We also share 99.845% of our DNA with several species of ape.
Understand now?

Answer 6

For one thing, Abu Bakr, monkeys are simians; and the anthropoids are consideredto be the nearest possible ones from which the Pithecanthropus Erectus evolved, which was the one from which the Homo Neanderthalis may have evolved and so on to Man.

Ergo, Man didn't evolve from monkeys.

Please study your "History of Evolution" text book.

Answer 7

Put simply it is defined as a change in the gene pool of any given species through time which obviously occurs. The theory of evolution deals with how and why that change occured. We have evolved from one species of ape which is why we have so much of our physiology in common with anthropoid apes such as a coccyx and an inability to synthesise vitamin c.

Answer 8

We share a common ancestor with apes. They are the closest relatives to us.
Evolution is used to explain the gradual change form simple life to more complex life over millions and millions of years.
And there is almost no evidence against evolution, only ignorance of the facts.
Gary is incorrect about the Cambrian explosion, he is just siting christian pseudo-science that has no basis in reality.

Answer 9

Evolution is the change in allele frequencies in a population over time. Evolution is just the term for the fact that because of mutation, drift and selection, populations do not preserve the same gene frequencies over time.

Answer 10

The theory of evolution is basically a false religion and there is Plenty of evidence AGAINST EVOLUTION:.

First, the 'Cambrian explosion'; the millions of fossil types in Cambrian rock (oldest fossil bearing rocks) appear suddenly and fully formed and without any previous forms...IOW, there are no transitional forms.

Most well educated evolutionists when forced to ...will admit it, but very unwillingly, and even then they always want to seem to make new excuses for it. Usually they just don't say anything about it and hope noone finds out.
"From the beginning of the Creation God made them male and female..." - Jesus (Mk. 10:6)
" By the Word of the Lord were the heavens created, and all the host by the breath of His mouth. For HE SPAKE AND IT WAS DONE; HE COMMANDED AND IT STOOD FAST". (psalm 33:9)