EVOLUTION

The general premise of evolution is that life constantly changes and adapts. This is in opposition to the Creationist view that life appeared miraculously on Earth and has remained unchanged since Creation.
The first known theorist to apply evolution was Lucretius in the 1st century AD. In the mid-18th century Linnaeus classified most known organisms, recognizing the possibility of relationships between them.
About the same time the Comte de Buffon suggested that changes in fossils could have been caused by environmental factors, whilst Lamarck first suggested, in 1809, that changes in form could be due to inheritance.
Also essential to the process at this time was geologist, Lyell, who showed how the environment changed constantly, thus giving a reason for animals to have to change to survive. This was the last factor needed by one Charles Darwin.

ENTER MR DARWIN

In his 1859 Origin of Species Darwin showed that species adapt through natural selection, in that those who adapt best to the environment have the best chance of survival, whilst those who do not die out.
Darwinian evolution still required a mechanism by which adaptations were passed on through inheritance. This came with Mendel and his devising of genetics, and Crick and Watson’s discovery of DNA in a double helix which unfolded at conception, passing a parent’s genes to the offspring.

EVOLVING PROBLEMS

The theory of evolution is neat and rational, but whilst some form of evolution is definitely correct, there are many problems with the theory as it stands. For instance, it requires slow change, whereas evidence suggests something different.
There appear to be periods of fast change interspersed by periods of no change at all. If this could be tied with periods of fast change and no change at all in the environment, all well and good, but science cannot prove this.
Similar problems arise with the evidence to prove evolution. For instance, only 10% of the fossil record has been found, leaving huge gaps in the evidence. Hence, science’s evangelical approach to the ‘truth’ of evolution is misplaced.
Of course, evolution was much more than a theory of life. The idea of the ‘survival of the fittest’ was a perfect philosophy and for the strongest to prosper. As such, Nazism and modern capitalism are based on the premise.

INTELLIGENT DESIGN?

Opposing evolution is Creationism and the idea of ‘intelligent design’ within life. The two stances seem so contradictory that there is no possibility of tying the two ideas together. However, this is not the case.
Computer programs have now been devised on the concepts of evolution. Over many ‘generations’, the programs evolve to be better programs, adapting through natural selection. However, this is not the whole picture.
In order to know in which direction evolution must go, the programs are given a ‘basic design function’, without which they could not work. This is a form of intelligence within evolution. It is not inconceivable that a similar process could lie in evolution proper. It is the challenge of theology and science to study the possibility rather than bicker.

© Anthony North, December 2006