It seems that many people try to explain the complexity of living organisms with the Theory of Evolution Why?

Question

I studied Evolution in school and feel that it doesn't explain in an adequate way anything about the compexity of life. Since evolution is junk science why not simply tell students that we have no idea how the varieties of life got started and how complex cellular structures came about and simply focus on understanding the processes without trying to understand their genesis. Why waste time on teaching evolution to students.

I appreciate all the answers I've received. If anyone who has already answered returns to reread my question please consider the additional details. First, one person cited birds with different beaks as a proof of natural selection. So the question is why are there birds with big beaks and some with little beaks all seeming to do quite well? Why are people not evolving? There are people that differ in skin color but the skin color seems to have nothing to do with natural selection. Is it possible that the Bible is correct and there is an omnipotent G-d who populated the earth and perhaps other planets also?

Answer 1

It's only junk to those who don't believe in it. And my question is "Why waste time trying to answer a question for someone who won't take the time to understand it and therefore possibly believe it afterwards?".

But if you really want to know, religion aside, the earth started off as one celled organisms. Throughout the course of time, they evolved. And with evolution came multi-celled organisms and eventually the complex life forms that we know today.
Evolution is the study of how, through survival of the fittest, eradication of weak and undesirable traits, and the overall progression of life forms, all the creatures on earth developed from something in a petri dish (though at the time of the genesis, there were no petri dishes!).
And, by the way, scientists do know quite a bit about how life forms got started. It's called archeology, and there are millions of fossils and other "artifacts" to prove the trail of life through the ages.

Trying to teach someone how complex life forms exist or their "processes" as you put it, without understanding their genesis, is like trying to teach a person calculus without them knowing how to add, subtract, multiply, and divide. While they may be able to catch on to some of it, the majority would be lost on them because they don't have the basic knowledge to understand and progress past a certain point.
The same as trying to teach someone to write an essay when they didn't know the alphabet or what the sounds of the individual letters were. How can you understand the tapestry of a literary work when you don't know the genesis of where the words came from?

Additonal details answer:
One thing that you aren't stopping to consider is why do some birds have the big beaks and some have little ones, or why are some human's skin dark while other's are light.
Through the evolutionary system, whatever works to aid that species in their daily existence, is what gets passed on. Those traits that do not help, and even sometimes hinder, fall by the wayside.
If you notice, most of the darker skinned humans come from the hotter climates. In those climates, the lighter skinned of the species would eventually die off from skin cancer caused by continuous sunburn.
Also, the birds with the big beaks probably have eating habits that require a mouth that big (example: pelicans - can you imagine a bird with a beak like a finch trying to eat a fish?) The same with the smaller beaked birds, they usually eat grains and seeds, which would be impossible to pick up with a large beak.
In the animal kingdom, especially, their physical attributes are excellently suited to their survival and what they do everyday. Also, if an offspring is born which is less than suitable (deformed or mentally unfit), their instincts cause them to kill it. Not because they hate it, but because it cannot or will not survive on it's own.
Only in the human race, do we see examples of a species trying to do things for which they are not necessarily suited. This could be because with our brain capacity, we try things that are above our capability, and since evolution takes quite a while to adjust, it hasn't happened that we are "genetically" capable of doing it yet.

As far as your religious reference, I personally have my own faith that I follow. But as a "realist", I cannot discredit actual facts when placed in front of me.

Answer 2

Wow, pretty much everything you said is wrong. Evolution is definitely not junk science. Read 'The Origin of Species', or take a real evolution course in college. Life is complex because organisms mutate, and then selection acts on populations to change the frequency of characteristics in those populations.

This is why some birds have small beaks, and others have large beaks for example. Populations of organisms are constantly evolving and becoming more diverse because selection is acting to change the frequency of traits (keeping the traits that give the best fitness).

If you are talking about 'abiogenesis', then that is something separate from evolution. There is evidence emerging about how cells could have formed from organic materials. Just do some research.

Answer 3

You " feel " that it does not explain things in an adequate way. Is it possible that you do not understand the theory? " A change in allele frequencies over time, leading to the differential survival of replicators ". That you do not understand how this leads to the complexity of organisms, says much more about your understanding than the theory of evolution by natural selection. We can not tell students a lie, just because your understanding is flawed. We have great amounts of evidence that comes from many disciplines; genetics, molecular cell biology, evolutionary biology, paleontology and even geology. So, teaching evolution ( which is fact ) to students is not a waste of time, it is also our duty as those who care for the truth. Go here and try to lift your ignorance from yourself.

http://www.talkorigins.org
A simple site for people such as you.

Answer 4

Given that God designed a universe whose physical components and physical laws allow for the development of a human being from a single cell containing only 46 chromosomes, why is evolution that hard to believe?

The so-called "irreducible complexity" arguments are moot, since the human development process can clearly be reduced to the information coded in our chromosomes.

Who are you to claim that irreducible complexity is even an intelligent argument in a universe created by an omnipotent God?

Answer 5

Evolution is not "junk science"--and if you actually studied it you would know that. There is an overwhelming amount of evidence proving evolution took place. The fact that the process is not fully understood does not calll into question the fact that it took place.

Beyond the value to understinging biology, there is another excellant reason to teach students. And that is to show them the difference between scienctific truth and the religious superstitutions of the tiny minority of right-wing fundamentalists who want to force their religious doctrine on others.

Answer 6

I think that you can still find usefulness in learning evolution. A lot of concepts in science are based on evolutionary principles:
- in ecology, tracking how populations dwindle and thrive as environments change
- in medicine, making mathematical models to estimate how soon antibiotic resistance will occur, and how to delay it
- certain methods of gene mapping (such as linkage disequilibrium) are based on ideas of genetic inheritance and mutation, which is the basis for evolution
- the fact that many animals share lots of genes with humans is used to our advantage every day when we can do genetics on flies to learn about human diseases

So you see, evolution is really a useful theory!

Note: I am sorry some people are impatient and impolite with their remarks. This is really something everybody could brush up on.

Answer 7

Darwinian Evolutuon is not junk science and is supported by lots of evidence. You had bad teachers and you are clearly a person with a closed mind. And that is sad. Use the internet and learn from evolutionary biologists and eminent scientists instead of waiting to be spoon fed.

Answer 8

Because the Theory of Evolution makes predictions. The other ideas about how life got to be the way it is, don't make correct predictions about new discoveries.

Answer 9

Well, obviously you didn't understand evolution when it was taught. Why don't you get yourself a book on it - by Miller or Dawkins or Gould. Evolution explains all those things very well.

Answer 10

Evolution does explain it, and is now a proven fact. Since evolution is essential to science, it is essential to teach it.