If evolution happens, then why don't we see pigeons turning into helicopters & walruses turning into rabbis?

Question

Disclaimer: Parody, obviously.

To be fair, though - some of the Creationist arguments sound like this from my vantage point. You would think people who had strong opinions against evolution would show a basic understanding of it. Yet, we often get stuck the sort of question like "If evolution is real, then why don't we see half-man/half-monkeys wandering around?" (To be fair, some Creationists do have a decent grasp on evolution, but many don't.)

Oops --> grammatical blunder.

It should be 'get stuck with'

A Dane : Actually, that's not entirely true. On paper, evolution is a non-stop process. It doesn't turn on or off as need be. It just happens to the species over generations in response to environmental change, rather than to individual creatures. (The creatures don't stand there and change on the spot.) Instead, the environment dictates what traits within a species are favorable, and the creatures with those traits make more babies. The ones without them make less. (Hence the population changes.)

Betty - Okay, so if we wait long enough, we will see walruses turning into rabbis some day? =)

(Actually, how do we know walruses would embrace Judaism?)

Malcolm : It's not about me thinking I have superior intelligence. Some of the Creationist answers you encounter in R&S -do- sound like that. I encourage you to look for yourself, if you don't want to take my word for it. (Again - emphasis on -some-. I wouldn't peg all Creationists under this typecast.)

Answer 1

Reductio ad Absurdum.

They just try and reduce the sound theory of evolution into a statement that sounds inherently stupid and not true, and try and use this to bring down a wall of scientific theory. They fail though.

Answer 2

You see, there's the thing: God said "...and the pigeons will never evolve into helicopters for that will end the reign of the fossil fuels, putting a lot of billionaires in a difficult situation: to work or not to work. And the walnuts (to Peter: "Was it walnuts?" Peter: "No, it was walruses"), sorry, the walrussians (Peter: "Walruses, your Omnipotency."), yes, the walruses will not turn into rabbits because not too many people know what walruses are and it will not be noticed, anyway."

From the never published book, "God About Evolution", by Charles Darwiner.

(I read many of your answers and I have to say this: I like them. Your grammar is good, your writing skills and far better than what I usually see on Y/A, your logic is not easily destructible... Now, if you give me 10 points for my answer, I will believe that you felt you had to so, please, don't do it. I'm not here for the points, anyway.)

Answer 3

Beliefs are a funny thing. What you have to realize is people always have to choose what they believe in, even if they are unaware of the choice they make. Some people choose beliefs that appear the most logical, while others choose beliefs that feel the best to them. The choice is based on all of a persons life experiences so it is different for each person. I personally believe it's important to, no mater what they choose to believe, respect the the reason people believe in something. Some people want to see different points of view while other people are at a time in there lives where they are not ready to have their life turned upside down. For those people who are not ready or willing they will defend there beliefs and way of life in anyway they can imagine. Including making silly statements like why don't we see pigeons turning into helicopters & walruses turning into rabbis?

Answer 4

Okay, but if evolution were true and survival of the fittest works on all populations, why are there so many weak individuals in that population? Genetics are changing trhough mutations and gene drift/flow. Recessive and dominant alleles work trhough this process too. True, organisms change over time but they dont become something different. They just become a variation of what they used to be.

An elephant didn't one day decide to become a whale and sprout fins. And I dont think they genetically mutated over time to do that either. Whales have probably always been around, and so have elephants. And everything else for that matter.

But how can you explain, from an evolutionary standpoint, how so much of the world we live in works together with one another so perfectly?
How did plants know to take in carbon dioxide and convert it into oxygen as a waste product so that animals and humans which need oxygen to live, can breathe?
How did they know to take energy from the sunlight and convert it into energy usable to heterotrophic organisms? How did transcription and translation, which are the basic processes of life, come into play?
Where did it all begin?
If it were a single-celled organism that we all came from where did IT come from? and how did it turn into everything that we see today?

Answer 5

Evolution is just change. It takes place from one generation to the next. The only form of reproduction where evolution doesn't take place is cloning. And I'm not just talking about the cloning that goes on in secret modern laboratories, gardeners have been cloning plants for thousands of years. They take cuttings, plant them in the ground and the cuttings grow roots and become clones of the 'mother plant.' Creationists arguments are no more than the bleating of frightened sheep.

Answer 6

"Your vantage point" and other comments suggest you consider you have a superior intelligence. I mean, you do have a "decent grasp" on evolution!! The most intelligent folk are the ones who acknowledge they have much still to learn. When God made everything He had a plan of evolution, some of which we see from "our" vantage point, namely history and archaeology. 'tis mystery all.

Answer 7

I guess people just don't understand that evolution happens -when it needs to-. It doesn't happen out of the blue. Animals evolve for specific reasons to help them survive better.

Edit: Hun, I'm not a science major so I really don't care =) lol. All I know is I wasn't created from dirt by some person in the sky and that's good enough for me.

Answer 8

Are you laughing at creationists? They like to help us by making funny jokes about themselves all the time. I have never seen any group more out to get people to laugh at them, except for IDiots, of course.

Answer 9

well evolution doesnt make sense if you believe the earth is only 6 thousand years old. we are talking BILLIONS OF YEARS. it takes millions of years for animals to evolve...not a couple years...that is why we dont see new animals every ten years or something.

Answer 10

If the world was a logical place, men would ride horses sidesaddle.