EVOLUTION

Brent Anderson

Perhaps there is no other word in the English language that so instantly galvanizes the opinions of men and women than evolution. It has become the battle cry of religious fundamentalists; since to them it represents the insidious attack of their faith by those they consider “godless scientists”. Equally, it is the main tool of attack for those who may, or may not, be trained in the sciences, and who for personal reasons, burn with a need to disprove the existence of God and show those who believe in God to be fools. It should not come as any great surprise to any that very few people really understand what evolution is, especially those who stand at the extremes of the two points of view. Evolution as a word is used to describe a series of random mutations of genetic material that flow from past to the present. It is very hard to prove the existence of evolution in the relatively short time periods of a man’s life, since evolutionary changes are by nature very slow in species with long reproduction cycles. Of course, it can and it has been proven that it occurs with bacteria or other forms of life with short reproductive cycles. This, however, does not convince all that it occurs in the “higher” forms of life. To suppose that this genetic process ceased with the advent of man is fallacious.

In today’s world, the activities of mankind are the chief environmental factor against which new genetic variants are judged. This highly competitive world shaped and ruled by man is no more competitive than previous ages, only different. The wonder of the process of evolution is that by its chaotic nature it can, and will, respond to any new environmental challenge without a missed step. This adaptability is built into the genes of all species that anyone cares to study. There is a huge gene pool in every individual organism (born of chaotic mutations over vast periods of time) that includes genes for which there seems no purpose. This diversity of the genes assures that for any given new environment encountered some individuals of a species will be better suited to survive than others will. There are limits to the variation of climate that would allow for a continuation of life on the Planet, but given gradual change, life can evolve to live in some very hot environments (as around volcanic vents in the sea) and very cold environments (as in Antarctica).

Those who argue that the very process of evolutionary change proves that there is no God have adopted an untenable and insupportable position. Those who argue that the account of Creation in Genesis proves that the concepts of evolution are false are on equally shaky ground. As usual the truth lies between the extremes, but in this case, very few people really understand enough about evolution to know where the middle ground is, let alone the warring fore-mentioned parties.

The essence of evolution is defined by chaos. There is no goal in the evolutionary systems of Earth other than survival and reproduction. No life form is valued more than another is whether it be a single cell organism or a Blue whale. The history of the Earth has seen many wondrous life forms that have caught the imagination of Paleontologists and children. Most of these species have not survived to our time. However, the genes that defined them do survive in the animals and plants of our age. If we were to select a time in the past, and define it as the time of evolutions ultimate triumph we would be making a subjective judgment based upon what we thought the ideal should be. That this sort of judgment is flawed is testified to by ecology of the present. The pinnacle of evolution is always defined by the present and the future with its unknown life forms represents pure conjecture. We occupy the Earth in that fleeting moment of time called now, and we presume that our moment in time is the crowning glory of evolution. Time will pass however, and the course of evolution is by nature unpredictable, except that we know that at sometime in the very distant future the Sun’s atmosphere will engulf the Earth, and the life forms that could not flee through space will cease.

Evolution is a simple process, it requires no guidance, but the complexities of the actual paths of evolution through time are almost infinite. It is so complex that even today we are able to map only a small percentage of the human genome, but our abilities are increasing very rapidly, and soon man will have a very active part in creating the new life forms of the future. We can only assume that this activity will increase with time. If so, then will we design super men who will be smarter stronger and live-forever? Obviously, man will strive to achieve these goals. Will these godlike men then be the pinnacles of creation, or will they still by virtue of their flesh and blood become redundant? This is equally obvious, for as surely as time and space exist these hypothetical men will eventually be frozen in the residue of a vast cold entropy-less Universe-wide graveyard. Or, what is more likely, they would be destroyed by the extreme gravity flux at the event horizon of a black hole in which the matter of their bodies would contract to near nothingness. There is no immortality within our universe, nor can there be, because the universe itself will one day become inhospitable to life, as we know it. Will man one-day gain enough knowledge to flee this universe? Only if they are able to take upon themselves forms in which the matter of this universe is not incorporated, for there is no way for matter or energy to escape our universe.

The very nature of the evolutionary processes of the Earth makes the manipulation of that system fairly easy for intelligent beings. We all are aware that prehistoric man manipulated both plants and animals to create new strains that were more useful to man. These simple manipulations required nothing but selective breeding, since in the genome of any particular species there are always huge spectrums of genes that can be selected in or out. But today man is on the threshold of a new era in which the very genes can be altered in the pursuit of plants and animals with even greater utility to man.

The ease with which mankind has manipulated the evolutionary process is obvious to all, and few would disagree. Yet, those of the religious right proclaim that evolution has no part in the creation of this Earth. Could not God, who they proclaim as all seeing and knowing, then do an even better job of manipulating evolution than man? On the other hand, the anti-religion zealots who proclaim evolution as proof that there is no God have taken a position that has no basis in fact. Ask yourself could there be any better tool for building an Earth than Evolution? Certainly God would use the best tools to reach this end. Why is it assumed by many that creation must be by some mysterious magical construct when, in our modern society, very few believe in magic? Even the Bible teaches that magic is not of God, and those on the right would never allow the use of magic within their churches. Those on the left proclaim that the very tool that would be used by God disproves his existence. One must conclude that a very substantial proportion of mankind is devoted to irrational thought processes.

The beauty of the many and varied life forms of the Earth is incredible, and they are woven into a symphony that is ever changing. The complexity of the ecosystem of the Earth is a masterpiece that no man could currently duplicate, for each and every organism on this planet is linked to all others genetically. True, some do not survive, and that is part of this intricate work of art, but new species are always being born and they are the legacy of those whose time has ended. We all view the current massive loss of life forms as alarming, and yet this has happened time and again in the history of life on the Earth. The slow process of filling the niches vacated by these individual organisms does little to salve our fears. Mankind has usurped many of the ecological niches, and so they offer little opportunity for new organisms. Yet again tomorrow, a new lethal, predatory virus or bacteria may be born, and then man could be eliminated as viable organisms.

The evolutionary processes of the Earth are impossible without the death of individual organisms on a continuing basis. Passing of species disturbs us, for with each loss a thing of beauty is no more. However, we must also learn that it is natural that such things happen and look forward to the beauty to come. The new species may well be the product of man’s engineering of genes, but that does not diminish the beauty of the new organisms. Does that make mankind presumptuous, fledgling gods and goddesses? Hardly, since we are the children of God.