Life and Evolution |
| Posted by The Masked Crusader (cschalk) on Apr 28 2010 |
Picking up our discussion where the last left off, Evolution. I cannot endorse the popular view of Evolution. To begin, I'm going to give an overview of the popular view of Evolution, and the rebut it with some arguments that contradict the theory of evolution.
What is Evolution? First, I'd like to note that Evolution is a Theory, not a law. Therefore, it is open for discussion. For my overview, I choose to share a spot by Carl Sagan that gives a clear description of the popular view of Evolution.
MelodySheep also created the following music video that is a bit more entertaining, but conveys the same message.
To recap, The theory of evolution states that every form of life that exists is a decendent of a single celled organism. It goes that the cell started to divide, and mutated genetically until it created a new creature, and that this pattern repeated itself over and over again for millions of years until today we have millions upon millions of different creatures. That's evolution in a nut shell.
I believe that a species can evolve, but not that a chimpanzee can change into a human. If humans are merely evolved chimpanzees, then how are the chimps still here? Ok, that is a dumb rebuttal, but it's a start.
The first rebuttal I have is this: Genetic mutations have catastrophic consequences. The human has 23 pairs of chromosomes, and any mutation in those 23 pairs can cause serious problems both for the individual affected as well as their children, if children are even possible. A full list of human chomosome deformaties is available here. The first I want to talk about is Williams Syndrome.
Williams Syndrome is caused by the deletion of 26 genes from the 7th chromosome. The syndrome presents itself by learning disabilities and physical deformations. The person can generally lead a full life, though they may never attain self sufficiency.
Down Syndrome is another genetic mutation that is widely known. It is caused by the addition of an extra copy of chromosome 21. Again, individuals that suffer with this genetic disorder have learning disabilities, difficulty with self sufficiency, physical deformations and the like.
Yet another gene mutation is Cystic Fibrosis, caused by a single missing gene. Though the mutation is small on a chromosome level, not adding an entire chromosome or deleting a massive 26 genes, but rather a single gene, it causes infertility in 97% of men. They are not sterile, but will find it difficult to reproduce without assisted reproductive techniques.
Finally, I'd like to talk about the gender genes, specifically the X gene. There are several mutations of varying degree when an individual has multiple copies of the X gene. And we know that all individuals missing the Y gene are female. But a fetus cannot live, cannot exist even for a second without the X gene. If that gene is deleted or missing, fertilization does not even occur and the embrio is discarded.
All of these grave issues are caused by mutations in the genetic code, so I ask you that if we evolved genetically from an ape, how could we if even minor changes in the genetic code cause such problems?
Here is rebuttal number 2: Apes, specifically the chimpanzee, shares approximately 99% of the human genome. They are so much like us that scientists are able to use chimps as lab specimens for human research, but that 1% difference is so great that a human and a chimp are genetically incompatible and cannot reproduce together. Ethical issues prevent the research, but genetically, our genes are so different from any other creature, even apes, that reproduction would either be impossible or the resulting offspring would, again, be sterile.
A donkey and a horse are genetically compatible and can reproduce together, but the resulting creature, the mule, is sterile and cannot reproduce. This sterility comes from the miniscule differences in their genetic code. Again, if even miniscule changes in genetic code produce a sterile offspring, then how much more difficult would evolution be?
Both these rebuttals form an arguments for a deity that controls the genetic pools. If God does exist, and created all the animals and people on this planet, then He also has created a way to protect the gene pool of each creature, as most hybrids are sterile. The protected gene polls and the differences between different branches of the animal kingdom provide further evidence that there are some other laws that protect and govern how creatures interact with one another.
Last changed: Aug 22 2011 at 11:41 AM
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