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Written by Uponnothing
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Tuesday, 11 August 2009 13:56 |
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I think you have to have a certain intellectual failing to dismiss out of hand the theory of evolution. Quite simply, as theories go, it is one of the most researched, considered and plausible explanations for the origin of complex life. I know people inclined to believe the literal word of god as 'recorded' in the bible will point out that it was in fact god that made the earth in 6 days etc and evolution is a big lie created by evil scientists to turn us away from pumping money into church coffers. I think what I am trying to say is that if you cannot grasp the basics of evolution then there is usually a reason for this, and the reason can boil down to two simple factors: one, you are too stupid to understand it; or two, you have been brainwashed from birth into believing the literal truth of the bible and therefore cannot engage with the theory of evolution without dismantling the very core of your being.
The chances are if you fall into category one and have the ability to read then you'll at some point log onto the Daily Mail website to read the 'news' - this is fairly common practice amongst the intellectually challenged. If you happened to log on today you might even have had a look at this article: 'Our ancestors did NOT evolve from knuckle-dragging apes, finds new study'.
Now, my first temptation is to make the obvious observation that if the word 'our' is being used to refer to the collective group of Daily Mail readers then I'd suggest that no evolution into complex human beings has actually taken place within this group anyway; so they needn't worry about the argument of what they have evolved from. The Daily Mail and its readers seem unable to grasp that any kind of nuance exists and have two stock responses to any given situation: blame New Labour or blame immigrants.
But I digress, I wanted to post just one of the comments from someone who clearly falls into the category of 'too stupid to understand the basics of evolution':
Terrible grasp of punctuation: check, never heard of an apostrophe: check, unable to form correct tenses: check, utterly moronic argument: check. All perfectly consistent with the kind of moron who still believes that they have somehow used the power of their mind to disprove evolution: 'ah, I cannot see one animal evolve into another in the world around me, therefore evolution is wrong'.
I like to think the theory of evolution can be used as a basic test of whether someone is worth talking to. For example, f you ever get into a debate with anyone, just ask them what they think of evolution as a theory, if they cannot grasp the basics or outright 'don't believe in it', then cease the debate immediately - no matter what the topic - for they are an idiot and their opinion is worthless. Likewise, if you are about to employ someone or pay for services just quickly ask them about evolution, if they fail the test, then do not employ them - it's bound to be just the tip of their ignorance.
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Last Updated on Tuesday, 11 August 2009 14:04 |
by "sentient" i assume you mean homo sapian level intellegence, but really, you don't just evolve greater intellegence quite as simply as that. in the case of our forbearers opposeable thumbs were one step that allowed for greater mental development, walking upright (thus freeing up the hands) was another. walking upright would be of no advantage to a forest dwelling chimp, where as it was to the grassland dwelling homo erectus.
as for the different type of human, well, there have been various species of human, neandertals and floresiensis being examples that existed along side us, evolved from a common ancestor, rather than being our forbarers. were it not for extiction events (which dropped our species own numbers as low as 10 or so thousand individuals), they could still be around.
Evolution in pictures; for those who don't understand words.
unfortunately opposable thumbs are not one of them.
how intelligent an animal becomes is not dependant on how long its been around for, but what atributes best enable it to survive and procreate in an environment. in the case of the great apes, the arribute which helped them thrive was opposable thumbs, and the advances in intellect that they facilitated.
in the case of the duck billed platypus, poisonous ankle spurs were more advantagious.