Evolution is not Random: Natural Selection

by rebel8 5 Replies latest jw friends

  • rebel8
    rebel8

    "Some Christians who are not educated about the evolutionary process seem to think that evolution is about random chance. The fact is that evolution is brought about by a process called Natural Selection. Natural Selection is definitely not random. While random mutations occur, it is the mutations that are more adaptable to change which survive and are therefore passed on." [http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-8928-Philadelphia-Atheism-Examiner~y2009m7d22-Atheism-101-The-Purpose-of-Life]



    "Because natural selection can produce amazing adaptations, it's tempting to think of it as an all-powerful force, urging organisms on, constantly pushing them in the direction of progress — but this is not what natural selection is like at all.

    "First, natural selection is not all-powerful; it does not produce perfection. If your genes are "good enough," you'll get some offspring into the next generation — you don't have to be perfect. This should be pretty clear just by looking at the populations around us: people may have genes for genetic diseases, plants may not have the genes to survive a drought, a predator may not be quite fast enough to catch her prey every time she is hungry. No population or organism is perfectly adapted.

    "Second, it's more accurate to think of natural selection as a process rather than as a guiding hand. Natural selection is the simple result of variation, differential reproduction, and heredity — it is mindless and mechanistic. It has no goals; it's not striving to produce "progress" or a balanced ecosystem." [http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/0_0_0/evo_32]

  • PrimateDave
    PrimateDave

    I agree with you, but you're "preaching to the choir." What you just described still looks like "random chance" to a fundamentalist believer. That kind of mind wont accept anything less than a Master Designer in Heaven. (Which is why I don't bother with the "evolution or creation" debate anymore.)

  • sir82
    sir82

    Virtually every single Awake magazine for the past 2 years has had some article on some animal or other & something amazing it does.

    The article invariably ends, "What do you think? Was this wonderful thing designed, or did it come about by chance?"

    WT writers can be breathtakingly dumb.

    I was about to write that it was hard to conceive that they have never been exposed to the fallacy of their "created or a random event" false dilemma - then I remembered that most Bethel writers have been utterly isolated from "worldly" people, and rational thought, for probably a minimum of 20 years.

  • Midget-Sasquatch
    Midget-Sasquatch

    Along with natural selection, evolution is also driven by the choices that individuals make for prospective mates. Certain traits or features are highly desired and the individual with them get lucky. Sometimes those traits don't even have significant survival advantages. For example: males with larger....tails....yeah... lets go with that bird example.

  • Lillith26
    Lillith26

    I agree with theory of evolution and natural selection- not all theists are fundalmentalists- allthough I do believe in a first cause/natures god... As I deist I see it a mass/the physical universe was set in motion and left to 'evolve' on it's own. In my opinion based on what I have learned thus far- we are the universe becomming "awear" of itself- a sort of 'collective consesness'. But thats getting a bit of topic..

    Thankyou for the informative thread Rebel- it's a welcome change from all the bible banging that goes on around here

  • Satanus
    Satanus

    What's funny about this, is that, if you tried to explain this to an average, or even a semiintelligent jw, they would tell you how totally wrong you are, and then explain evolutionary theory to you.

    S

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