Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Although Charles Darwin has been buried for more than 100 years, his ideas haven’t rested with him.
Feb. 12 marks the 200th anniversary of Darwin’s birth. This year also marks the 150th anniversary of the publication of Darwin’s “On the Origin of Species,” in which he proposed his theory of evolution through natural selection. Several events are scheduled at the University to celebrate Darwin’s work.
Bruce Lieberman, professor of geology and curator of invertebrate paleontology at the Natural History Museum, will present the lecture “What Darwin Started: Evolution and the Fossil Record,” at 7 p.m. at the Natural History Museum.
Lieberman said he would survey Darwin’s work and the new discoveries that had shaped the theory of evolution since Darwin’s time. He described evolution as a cornerstone to scientific knowledge.
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Darwin and evolution events
Today Lecture: “What Darwin Started: Evolution and the Fossil Record” by Bruce Lieberman, professor of geology and curator of invertebrate paleontology, will lecture on the significance of Darwin and “The Origin of Species” and the use of the fossil record to help understand evolution. 7 p.m. Panorama Gallery, 4th floor, Natural History Museum Event is free and open to the public and refreshments will be served.
Today Play: L.A. Theatre Works’ radio drama, “The Great Tennessee Monkey Trial,” dramatizes the famous 1925 Scopes v. Tennessee trial, the first to be broadcast on the radio, which challenged the state’s Butler Act ban on teaching evolution in public schools. The cast, which includes Ed Asner (The Mary Tyler Moore Show) and John Heard (Home Alone), uses original court transcripts. 7:30 p.m, The Lied Center Tickets: $35 for adults/$18 with KUID lied.ku.edu
Feb. 12 Exhibit Opening: Experience “Darwin’s Journey” and Celebrate Exhibit includes photos, museum specimens and stories documenting Darwin’s five-year, worldwide voyage aboard the HMS Beagle. 4-6:30 p.m. Natural History Museum Event is free and open to the public and refreshments will be served. nhm.ku.edu
“All scientists accept the fact that humans evolved,” Lieberman said.
Despite the apparent consensus in the scientific community, creationism and intelligent design remain two popular alternatives to Darwin’s theory of “descent with modification.”
In a May 2008 Gallup poll, 44 percent of respondents said they believed “God created man in present form,” which is the basis of creationism. In the same poll, 36 percent of respondents said they believed “man developed, with God guiding,” a statement more in line with intelligent design. Forty-four percent of respondents said they agreed “man developed, but God had no part in the process.”
These conflicting viewpoints remain present at the University.
Evolution
“To put it very simply,” said Leonard Kristalka, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, “Darwin established once and for all that all organisms, including humans, shared a genetic ancestor.”
Kristalka said Darwin dismissed the idea that humans were a breed separate from other organisms.
“Just as Galileo discovered that the Earth was not at the center of the solar system,” he said, “Darwin discovered that humans were not at the center of any kind of creation.”
Kristalka said creationism and intelligent design went against all modern science, mistaking people’s religious faith for scientific evidence.
“If people want to believe in creationism or intelligent design, that is fine,” he said. “But to confuse that with knowledge is ignorant and arrogant.”
Intelligent Design
According to Natural History Magazine, intelligent design was a widely accepted explanation of the natural world until the publication of Darwin’s “On the Origin of Species” in 1859. Tony Bedora, a local minister with Campus Christians, said his beliefs were most closely aligned with intelligent design, the belief that biological systems resulted from purposeful design by a creator.
“I don’t think I would say that evolution isn’t a possibility.” Bedora said. “God could have used evolution to create living things.”
Kassidy Spring, Garnett sophomore, said she agreed with microevolution, the idea that small changes occurred within species over time. However, Spring said she took issue with macroevolution, major evolutionary changes that occurred at the level of species. She said she didn’t believe humans evolved from another species, but that evidence showed things had changed over time.
“I think the only explanation for the fact that we live in an environment that is so perfect for us, that our bodies function with near perfection, and that our natural world works in perfect order,” Spring said,” “is that there had to be something that designed and created it all.”
Creationism
According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, creationism, the belief that an absolute god created all living things as they now exist, wasn’t a major part of the religious scene until after the Civil War.
Jennifer Harness, Ottawa senior, described herself as a creationist. She said she took the first two books of Genesis “quite literally” and believed the world had been in existence for 18,000 to 50,000 years. She also said she believed dinosaurs and humans coexisted at some point in time.
“There may even be things existing today that we think are extinct that would create a paradigm shift in our thinking,” she said.
Harness said her skepticism of evolution stemmed from her personal faith.
“In my opinion,” she said, “we can’t prove that all life on earth began as an accident.”
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Lieberman acknowledged that science and popular opinion were not exactly on the same page.
“Science is not necessarily a popularity contest,” Lieberman said. “We’re in a time where this debate is politically charged. Science should be and tries to be outside the realm of politics.”
In addition to the lecture, the Natural History Museum will host a birthday party for Darwin at 4 p.m. on Feb. 12.
The radio drama “The Great Tennessee Monkey Trial,” based on the John Scopes evolution trial will be performed tonight at the Lied Center. Hollywood’s Ed Asner and John Heard highlight the show’s cast.
— — Edited by Chris Horn
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Comments
Darwin debate remains amid celebrations
Several scientific reasons that support creation and are evidence against Darwinian evolution can be read in the following on-line article:
What Does Cutting-Edge Science Teach about Origins? (partial quote) . . . - Molecules-to-man evolutionism violates the Law of Biogenesis: Life does not come from non-life.
The specific complexity of genetic information in the genome does not increase spontaneously. Therefore, there is no natural process whereby reptiles can turn into birds, land mammals into whales, or chimpanzees into human beings.
All organisms are irreducibly complex. Therefore, in order for any kind of organism to exist, all of the essential parts of that organism must be fully functioning from the beginning of its existence. . . .
Partial quoted from: "What Does The Catholic Church Teach about Origins?" What Does Cutting-Edge Science Teach about Origins? http://kolbecenter.org/church_teaches.htm
Darwin debate remains amid celebrations
JoeU,
In response to the points you quoted from the article:
1 - Evolution does not make any claims on how life came to be in the first place and no scientist thinks that life can be spontaneously created in today's conditions. We do, however, believe that all life originated from a common ancestor. This is not an argument against evolution
2 - The specific complexity of information in the genome DOES increase spontaneously. Some mutations can add multiple copies of a single stretch of nucleotides to the overall chromosome. Transposition allows a portion of the genome to be literally moved in whole from one place to another (not even necessarily on the chromosome.)
If you are approaching this from an evolutionary angle though, it is important to remember that natural selection plays a huge (but not the only!) role in increasing the complexity of organisms. All of the examples you gave can be explained by natural selection except for the last. You see, chimpanzees didn't become humans...we just both share a common ancestor that is neither chimp nor human.
Darwin debate remains amid celebrations
Darwin was not the first or only scientist with this idea. He rushed his book into publication so he could be the first in the mind of the public. Science has a duty to acknowledge all the other scientists and their views of evolution. And, let us not forget Alfred Russel Wallace who was invaluable to Darwin but received no recognition.
Darwin debate remains amid celebrations
If you willfully ignore evidence in order to preserve something you have faith in you can believe anything, glenjamin. To say "not one" piece of evidence has been found for either category 2 or 3 is to do just that. If you choose to deny the validity of decades of research and something you can see happen every time a bacterial infection evades antibiotics it was formerly susceptible to, you are choosing to make your argument by ignoring the other side.
As for number 1, you are incorrect. Evolutionary theory makes no claims about the origin of life. The theory simply provides a mechanism by which life changes over time to adapt to new circumstances (and sometimes randomly due to genetic drift.) I know this because I teach evolution in class and make it clear to my students that this is the case. I have nothing to gain by lying to you.
Darwin debate remains amid celebrations
Kansas is famous for its scientifically ignorant population, but the rest of America isn't much better. The denial of evolution is not a scientific issue, because like this article correctly pointed out, all scientists accept the fact that humans evolved. The problem in America is of course religion, especially the Christian religion which is good for nothing but making people stupid.
I noticed at least one ignorant person here complained about fossils, dishonestly saying there are no fossils of what could be called transitional species. Of course there are countless numbers of these fossils. For example the fossil record that describes the transition from land animals to whales can be called complete, and this record recently became more complete with the discovery of Maiacetus (look it up).
What the brain-dead evolution-deniers don't know is the fossils are not even necessary to prove the fact of evolution. The extremely powerful and rapidly growing evidence from molecular biology and modern genetics has repeatedly shown beyond any doubt that all life is related. For example the close evolutionary relationship between human apes and chimpanzee apes has been proven again and again and again, and more evidence continues to pour in as biologists compare DNA sequences of these two ape species.
All I can say to the creationists is this: Educate yourselves or SHUT UP. You're making our country a laughing-stock with your breathtaking stupidity and willful ignorance. Go read your bible, pray to your Jeebus, and keep your insanity in your churches and out of our schools. You creationists are a disgrace to the human race and no better than terrorists.
Darwin debate remains amid celebrations
Bobxxxx, you say that the Christian religion is good for nothing but making people stupid.
The things you continue to say in your comment are completely ignorant. Sounds like you have an anger for some reason.. And I'm sorry for whatever reason that is.
You are walking on dangerous ground...
Darwin debate remains amid celebrations
Glenjamin,
Natural selection alters the genetic composition of a population by making the genes that allow reproductive success (in this case, antibiotic resistance) more prevalent in the population. This causes a shift in allele frequency and changes the overall genetic composition of the population. Evolution is simply a significant change in the frequency of a given allele in a given population over a period of time. A commonly accepted percentage of significance is 10%.
Darwin debate remains amid celebrations
Another mechanism similar to, but not the same as, natural selection is sexual selection. This is when a particular trait is appealing to the opposite sex in a given population and becomes selected for based off of reasons other than survival. My favorite examples to use for this mechanism of evolution are the absurd looking male birds one can find in tropical rainforests and in some other areas (peacocks come to mind.) Though long tails and exotic coloring inhibit the bird's ability to survive, these traits have become more and more pronounced as time has passed because the females of the given species tend to mate with males with more pronounced features.
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