evolution?

Question

Ok I have a question about evolution. They say humans came from monkeys(sp) right? Well why are there still monkeys then? Did evolution decide to take a little nap? How could we have came from a monkey if monkekys don't have souls? They are classified as animals not humans. If we evolved from monkeys then how come the monkeys are still here and haven't evolved? If you can answer this I appreciate it, but I doubt you can convince me that I came from a monkey. I only came from one place. If you recommend this question for someone to answer please star it! Thank you.

ok ok!!!not monkys!apes!now just answer the question!

Answer 1

>>They say humans came from monkeys(sp) right?

They [evolutionists] will say you came from something like an ape - not from today's monkeys. Of course, that's only part of the fairy tale used in public school text books.

>>Well why are there still monkeys then?

They will say the monkeys today also came from the same ape-like animal as stated above. But the truth is they are still monkeys, because monkeys only give birth to monkeys... and humans are humans still because humans only give birth to humans.

>>Did evolution decide to take a little nap?

They will say no. But the fact is that evolution was never awake in the first place!!! Evolution from ape-like creatures to humans is impossible.

>>How could we have came from a monkey if monkekys don't have souls? They are classified as animals not humans.

They will say we are animals too, and that they don't see any evidence for souls. Of course, they don't know how to explain consciousness, altruism, muscial gifts, morals and many other immaterial features of life using only materialistic processes.

>>If we evolved from monkeys then how come the monkeys are still here and haven't evolved?

They will say that the monkeys you see today are evolved from the same ape-like creature we supposedly evolved from long ago. Of course, there is no evidence of this and the story is as scientific as any fairy tale about frogs turning into princes. They also say we have a common anscestor with monkeys, but they can't even say if an unidentified human skeleton in the graveyard is an anscestor of anyone living today. So, how can they say we came from some fossilised ape in the dirt? Evolution is a stupid theory.

>>If you can answer this I appreciate it, but I doubt you can convince me that I came from a monkey. I only came from one place. If you recommend this question for someone to answer please star it! Thank you.

As you can see. I don't believe we changed from any ape-like creatures either.

Wait until the science journals publish papers on Haldanes Dilemma, or Nachman’s U Paradox. Of course, at present, the journals are too afraid to publish these... because it would quantitatively PROVE that evolution from apes to man is impossible.

The fact is, most people that advocate evolution are ignorant of the problems and evidences that are heavily agianst it. At this point, it's simply a matter of time before the real science gets published. If evolutionists don't want to be caught with their pant's down cheering for the most vacuous theory this century, they should jump ship now.

Answer 2

> They say humans came from monkeys(sp) right
Right.

> Well why are there still monkeys then?
We come from an isolated population of monkeys. Other populations of monkeys were well-adapted to their environments and did not have the same selection pressures on them that our ancestors had.

> How could we have came from a monkey if monkekys don't have souls?
The "soul" or "integrated consciousness" is an emergent property. Monkeys just don't think the way we do. Their brains are not as big as ours. Big brains aren't a guarantee of having an integrated consciousness either. Whales and elephants have bigger brains than we do.

> how come the monkeys are still here and haven't evolved?
I already answered this. Isolated population, doncha know. Here's something to think about:
If Christians came from Jews, why are there still Jews?

Answer 3

In theory, we did not evolve from monkeys. Humans evolved, in theory from an apelike creature that is similar to a chimpanzee. A chimpanzee is not a monkey, though both are mammals.
Humans are animals, and humans, like most other animals have adapted to various changes in environment over time, as have many species of animals and plants. Evolution is another word for change and adaptation.
Evolution itself does not deny creation. Some theorists deny creation and some creationists deny eveolution as fact in defense of creationism. In truth, and in fact, neither believe contradicts the other. Neither idea proves the other to be wrong or right.
To say that according to evolution, we came from monkeys is like saying that you haven't even read or even considered evolution because no theorist has ever claimed that humans are the decendants of monkeys.
How do you know that monkeys have no souls? Prove it.
There is a very well documented fossil record of human developement. There are also fossil records of other animals developments over time.
I will not even attempt to convince you that you came from a monkey. That would be silly, and futile.
A fooish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.

Answer 4

You are the most arrogant, pompous idiot I've seen in a long time. First of all, HUMANS ARE ANIMALS!!! If you don't believe me, ask any biologist.

Second of all, evolution doesn't mean that one day--POOF--all the apes turned into people. It means that smarter apes had a better chance to survive and have kids, so there were more smart kids, and then they had even smarter kids, and so on. If two communities of apes lived separately from each other, one could have evolved into humans while the other evolved into chimpanzees or something.

Third--there AREN'T still the species of ape we evolved from. That species is extinct. Humans, orangutans, gorillas, chimpanzees, and bonobos all evolved from that extinct species.

Fourth--how do you know that humans have souls, or that apes don't? Apes are intelligent, have individual personalities, form complex social groups, can learn just about anything we can teach them, have been known to help others--even members of other species--for no apparant reason other than sympathy, and have been shown to understand the concept that other people's perspective is different from their own. If YOU have a soul, then so do they.

Fifth--do you see scientists invading the Religion section, belligerantly and irrationally posting our arguments, challanging the Creationists to provide proof of their ideas, then arrogantly stating that it doesn't matter anyway, because we'll never change our minds? NO, you don't, because unlike you morons, we have some manners.

Answer 5

Your so confused. Let's take your questions one at a time.
1) No they do not say that humans come from monkeys. They say they came from an ancestor that both human and monkeys share. At this ancestor humans branched in one direction and monkeys branched into another.
2) No evolution did not decide to take a little nap. Evolution never naps. It always responds to the environment through natural selection.
3) We did not come from monkeys ( see #1), and it is debatable whether we have souls. If you are referring to the "soul" in a supernatural sense, then we don't have a soul. If your referring to it in a psychological sense, then of course we do.
4) We did not evolve from monkeys ( see #1), and even if we did, that does not mean that the species we evolved from changed itself.

Answer 6

The problem is that evolution does NOT say humans came from monkeys. So many people misunderstand this point, and argue against something evolution does not say.
Evolution proposes that monkeys, chimps, (and, ultimately, everything) had a common ancestor. Let's just deal with chimp and human. Evolution does not say that we were chimps. It suggests that, about 6 million years ago, there was a creature on the earth that was NEITHER chimp nor human. There are always variation in any population, right? (Look at the different types of dogs.) There was some variety in this creature, too. One population, evolving over time, became the chimps we see now. Another group, evolving over time, became the humans we see now.
I hate using the phrase APEMAN, but to get the point across, let me use it here. Evolution does NOT say that it goes APE to APEMAN to MAN. Instead is says APEMAN to both APE and MAN.
The specific answer to your question, then, is that we did not come from monkeys. They and us evolved from a common ancestor. The monkeys are here for the same reason we are: we are both the same "distance" from the common ancestor.

Answer 7

Because they evolved from our common ancestor too. The great apes, including chimpanzees, are stronger than us humans. (A 180-pound chimp would wipe the floor with a 180-pound wrestler.) The others are smaller and more nimble that we are. (Watch a gibbon swinging through the trees, but don't try to imitate him, unless you have an affinity for broken bones.)

Here is a little something extra for you:

Back in 1776, monarchists argued against democracy as a form of government. They said it was absurd to believe that "All men are created equal" because anyone could see men came in different heights, weights and colors. Case closed.

My point is not about democracy. It is about debate. Before you argue about something, you should understand it. If you don't understand it, you'll look foolish. Gilda Radner, on the original "Saturday Night Live" TV Show, used to do a sketch every couple of weeks in which she made completely ridiculous arguments. One night she argued vehemently against the "Deaf Penalty", instead of the "Death Penalty". She looked absurd, which was the point, and we all laughed until the beer came out our noses, which was what she wanted. You don't want people to laugh at you.

In a serious debate, you should understand the other side. Note that I didn't say "Believe". Understanding is not the same as believing. If you were to study 20th century European Political history, you would have to understand several forms of government: communism (the USSR), fascism (Germany, Italy), socialism (Lots of countries), socialist democracy, capitalistic democracy and constitutional monarchy. You would not believe in all of them; you could not believe in all of them at once. If you tried, your head would explode. You would, however, have to understand their basic concepts.

If you were to study comparative religion, you would have to understand what Jews, Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Taoists and Confucians believe. You would not have to convert to a new religion every week, but you would have to understand the other ones. You would not get very far in your studies if you dismissed all the other ones as "wrong". They believe their path is the right one just as strongly as you believe your path is the right one.

99% of the biologists alive today believe that species evolve, and that the theory of evolution is the best explanation we have for the diversity of life. Christian biologists, Jewish biologists, Muslim biologists, Hindu biologists, Buddhist biologists; Australian, Bolivian and Chinese biologists; 99% of them believe it is the best explanation. Yes, it is only a theory. Planetary motion - the theory that the earth went around the sun, not vice versa - was only a theory for a long time. Some people still don't believe it. Their eyes tell them differently.

Species don't evolve at the same rate and they don't all have to evolve. Alligators, to take one example, haven't changed much for 40 million years. The ones that were 50 feet long have become extinct, but the normal 14-footers are still there in the swamps, hoping men don't shoot them to use their hides for shoes. They didn't have to worry about that 3 million years ago. We humans are at the top of the heap today, either because we evolved or God liked us better than He did the alligators. Either way, we can make tools better than any other species.

Your question has been answered, hundreds of times, by people more versed in biology than I. It gets answered ever week here at YA.

If you are truly curious, ask your minister to give you a short, reasoned explanation of evolution. If he says he can't because it is wrong, he is as ignorant as those monarchists I mentiond above.

Answer 8

"They say humans came from monkeys(sp) right?"

Wrong! There is no species of monkey today that is our ancestor.

"ok ok!!!not monkys!apes!"

NO. Wrong again! There is no species of ape today that is our ancestor.

"now just answer the question!"

But people HAVE answered your question! Over and over. Monkeys, apes, and humans all share a common ancestor. So evolution did NOT "decide to take a nap." Instead, any monkey or ape that you see is just as much a product of millions of years of evolution as we are. They are NOT just unevolved humans.

Look, the fact that your understanding of evolution is so BASICALLY wrong, that you are barely able to express it without people correcting you, should tell you something. YOU ARE REJECTING A THEORY THAT YOU BARELY UNDERSTAND! And this is a theory that almost ALL scientists believe is the bedrock theory of biology. These are people with degrees, PhD.s in biology, biochemistry, paleontology, primatology, genetics, etc. etc. They live, eat, and breathe science, and evidence. And this is over 150 years, thousands on thousands of brilliant people. Before you just conclude that you, with your clearly poor understanding, are right and all of them are wrong, please, please, please learn some more about it.

As for the soul .. the soul is not a biological organ. It is not a protein. There is no gene for the soul. It is not in our DNA. The soul is a *direct* gift to man from God. The soul is untouchable by biologists. Just as the Bible can tell you nothing about why a pancreatic enzyme in a chimp is identical, molecule by molecule to a pancreatic enzyme in the human, but with many differences from the same pancreatic enzyme in a howler monkey. And a biology book can tell us nothing about the soul.

That is precisely why a MAJORITY of Christian churches do NOT see evolution as conflicting with the Bible. They are very separate arenas. For example, the largest Christian church in the world, the Catholic Church, has expressly declared that there is no conflict. It is only a handful of fundamentalist churches, mostly in the United States, who are extremely vocal against evolution ... and it is their efforts, and the chilling effect it has had on schools in the U.S., that has led you to such a fundamentally BAD understanding of what evolution actually says.

Please, please, please learn some more. I say this with all kindness. You owe it to yourself.

Answer 9

Okay, I quote myself from another answer I gave to cover the "monkey" thing:

Humans are not "descended from apes"! We are descended from a common ancestor with the apes. We are not modified chimps, orangutans, gorillas, what have you...modern apes are just that - modern. They have not been around all that long and are modifications on a much earlier model! Go back far enough and you come to a somewhat ape like ancestor from which all the apes and ourselves sprung. This common ancestor is quite a way back, yet our divergence from the apes is recent enough for us to have up to 98% DNA similarity.

Monkeys diverged even earlier from the line apes and humans sprang from, but they too have a common ancestor with apes and humans..... one that is very, very different from modern apes, humans and monkeys.

If one more person tries to claim evolution does not stand up becuase we evolved from monkeys and they are still around I will scream! If you want to argue that evolution does not exist on that basis you start from a false premise and your argument is laughable. If you want to debate something, research the question more seriously... but then you probably wont because you are afraid you will be proven wrong.

There were plenty of different ancestral species in between humans and our ape like ancestors - heck even monkeys and apes have had many different species between their ancestral species and the modern species.

Evolution does not "nap", but it usually does work quite slowly. Rare critical events can cause evolution to move quickly at times however... I wont bother to go on because you have already indicated you have a closed mind on this so why waste the space?

As for "souls", how is an ancestors soul (or lack of one) related to the question? How do you know monkeys DONT have souls? How do you know humans DO? What is a soul anyway?

Jane Goodall has already shown that chimpanzees experience emotions, and can empathise with anothers pain (including a humans pain). This ability to "feel" is often touted as the indication of a soul by many religious zealots.... if emotions come from th soul then chimps have a soul.

Of course, the soul has no place in science, because you can devise no test to prove it's presence or absence or it's effects. If it cannot be tested it cannot be proven, and therefore has no place in a scientific debate. Go over to the philosophy/religion thread.

Religion does not belong in science and you should not be clogging up this thread.

Answer 10

Humans and apes had a common ancestor. Monkeys are more distantly related. When a species splits into another that doesn't mean that the original species is extinct. Small changes over thousands of years can create two distinctly different species, such as chimps and humans, from the original species........... Humans are animals btw............ The issue of souls is not addressed by evolution.

Answer 11

Evolution works. Look at the link below for an example that has been seen in just the last few years.

We didn't evolve from monkeys, but from an ape-like creature called homo heidelbergensis. See the 2nd link for the human family tree, according to the Smithsonian.

Monkeys exist because they evolved from a separate ancestor. If dogs evolved according to the way you describe it, there would be only one breed - no spaniels, no beagles, no chihuahuas (which wouldn't be so bad, come to think of it), no great danes. There would be only one kind of dog.

The reason there are different breeds is that their ancestors evolved to take advantage of situations in their environment. Think of it this way - say a pack of dogs live in open country, and have to chase rabbits for food. If one dog happens to have longer legs so that it can run faster, it will probably get more food, and live long enough to breed. If his offspring also have long legs, they will eat better and live longer, and also have more offspring. In this way, long legged dogs will start to appear more and more, and short-legged dogs will tend to starve and not breed.

If the dogs live in an area with lots of prairie dogs, and have to go down the tunnels for food, they will tend to have short legs. Make sense? Now think of greyhounds and dachhunds, and you'll see that evolution can and does work.