The dethroning of Archaeopteryx as the basal bird last year has had the much anticipated effect — opportunistic creationists using the findings to further advance their unscientific and absurd views. According to Nature, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology of South Korea recently revealed its decision to “exclude” examples of the avian ancestor and horse from textbooks. The Society for Textbook Revise has been successfully campaigning to delete “errors” from the textbooks on the ground that evolution is an “unconfirmed theory.” If it has its way, even “the evolution of humans” and “the adaptation of finch beaks based on habitat and mode of sustenance” may be removed from textbooks. With this, South Korea joins a few American States where religious sentiments have won over science. The latest developments from Korea have naturally shocked many scientists. Though they fault the government for not involving experts before taking the decision, scientists share equal blame. While the movement to popularise creationism has been going on for years, the scientific community did little to counter it — by engaging the public and explaining the science behind evolution, as well as its limitations. As the latest Gallup survey of over 1,000 adults in the United States shows, education plays a vital role in people rejecting creationist views — those with postgraduate education were most likely to believe in evolution.
Though the fossil record is far from complete, several prized fossils central to the theory of evolution have been unearthed in the past few years. These fossils are either the crucial transitional fossils or those that highlight the stages of evolution. Unfortunately, researchers have failed to emphasise the significance of these discoveries. Most importantly, they have collectively failed in explaining the ways of science. The very fact that the latest research was able to knock down Archaeopteryx from the high pedestal is proof enough that unlike creationism, evolution science is not dogmatic but self-correcting in nature. Still, as the latest Gallup survey of over 1,000 adults in the United States shows, 46 per cent of Americans believe that God created humans in their “present form within the last 10,000 years!” The reason for this is not difficult to find. Not every American has a science background and most fail to understand the complexities of evolution. For them, obscurantist religious views are easy to comprehend. But rejecting evolution on the ground that there is insufficient evidence to support it is nothing but absurdity — religion offers no evidence or proof for its claims whatsoever.
Keywords: evolution, early bird, Archaeopteryx, evolution science, paleontology, fossils
I purely appreciate what the scientists and discoverers has find out regarding the origin of human beings or the life. But the fact is that there is some power or divine force which is behind all these process. So theory of evolution is totally rational and correct but there is always some force or energy which is beyond our imagination is superior over all the process. U r right Ravi.
People are fools. They would believe anything that they want to believe or they are afraid to believe. This is what is happening to today's world and this is why they so vehemently refuse to see logic and reason. Contradictions cannot exist in any form, not in part; not in whole. So if you tell me that Indians believe both science and religion then they are simply fooling themselves. The beauty of science is that it keeps evolving. Unlike religion which vandalize people's property for speaking out the truth, it does not throw tantrums if proved wrong. Over the course of history, Religious fanatics have done everything in their power to destroy science as it makes people rational thinkers, something which undermines the baseless beliefs that religion propagates. And to those who ask where did the Mass for Big Bang come from, I ask where did your GOD come from??
@Devi 2/2 - Your thesis is that Hinduism somehow inoculates people from these problems which I disagreed with by pointing out that when Hindus are told that there is a contradiction, they too choose religion and abandon the science. Hence I pointed out to large groups like ISCKON where perfectly educated and sensible people go and come away espousing anti-evolutionism. Of course, they are perfectly entitled to their false views; I never argued otherwise. And lastly, the theory evolution sure is evolving, but not an inch towards creationism.
@Devi 1/2 - Please read my original post. Once again, I too am talking about the aam admi of the country and my opinion was that people are comfortable holding two, in my opinion conflicting, views - evolution and the religious account of creation - in their heads because they were never taught the implications of the theory of evolution. The 'comfort' comes from not knowing that these two ideas are in many ways contradictory, a fact that even troubled Darwin and many more people since. In the US, when the evangelicals seized on the opportunity to point out this contradiction, they made the average 'Christian' choose between evolution and creationism and, predictably, many chose creationism, although some scientists and trying to argue that the dichotomy is false. Humans - Hindus, Christians, Muslims, all - are perfectly capable of holding two conflicting views in their heads and that doesn't mean that they actually 'reconcile' them in their heads.
I m a biology student and i have completed my graduation. I have studied the theory of evolution as my subject. I still believe that world has been created by god. Theory of evolution explains that initially a chemical broth was made through some chemical reactions using the solar energy and some other sources of energy, but the question is that from where those chemicals came and as we get its answer more linked questions arise which goes on increasing for which we don't have answer or proof. Also there are many assumptions in the process and many things have been supposed to have taken place which can't be accepted whole heatedly. It is supposed that whole universe was created from big bang, but from where that huge mass came before big bang. And why to believe in theories they keep on changing with new innovations and discoveries.
@Raamganesh hmmm... Missing the point again. Dont be so fixated with mainstream gurus and ISKCON. I am talking about the people of this country. 'Rationalist' souls think that the common man is an idiot. But he is not. Indians are comfortable with evolution and do not see that as striking at the roots of religion as opposed to Darwin's wife's thinking. BTW, ISKCON is well within its rights to oppose evolution if it chooses to. and again, the theory of evolution itself is still evolving....
The theory of evolution starts from the smallest of the living thing and ends in human.It is widely accepted by people with basic science education.Even this acceptance does not deprive them of their faith in God because the science is yet to give a convincing theory for the origin of non-living particles in universe and the origin of life on earth.The existing theories about the origins of these two consists of presumptions & assumptions.Until this lock is opened,the evolution theory and faith in God will co-exist.
@Devi - You are right; Darwin set out to explain nature but what he found was a theory
whose implications were deeply troubling, even to him. He agonized over the implications of
his theory and put off publishing the results out of fear of what it might do to his devout wife.
All you are saying is that people are capable of holding two different, even conflicting, ideas
in their heads like the religious do with evolution. I have listened to many mainstream 'gurus'
preach to their flock and it is clear to me that they have in no way "reconciled" their religious
views with science. And recently I have been surprised that some of them, like ISCKON, and
other newer cults are taking an openly anti-evolutionist stance, which was not the earlier
when i was in school. This was my original point. To make this simple observation is not any
colonial self-deprecation so let us not be touchy about even mild criticism of our religion.
@ Raamganesh take a second look at your comments. that was exactly my point!!. we do not appreciate ourselves for our goodness. we have to immediately trivialise it. Firstly, Darwin's idea was to explain nature, not to disprove the 'designer'. When i say indians are more liberal and free-thinking, i am talking about something more fundamental - our capacity through ages to tread the 'middle path', to reconcile with god and science. that is what makes us see Darwin as a scientist par excellence. Unfortunately, a good number of us suffer from a kind of retrograde, colonial-era self-deprecation.
As soon as words like perhaps or may be creep into discussion it's no science. Theory of evolution is full of those.
The author suggestion that evolution needs to be embraced by everyone irrespective of supportive evidence, on the basis that it the only logical conclusion is fallacious. Take for example theoretical physics, where even most of the simple logical assumptions don't hold, and results baffle the best in the field. My take on this view is that both arguments should be instructed to the students with their pros and cons.
@Raamganesh - what a grand point you've made! You've hit the nail right on its head when you gave the benzene example. This reminds me of a quotation i read recently-"It's better that a question remains unsettled by a debate than it being settled without debate". I don't mean there's any debate about evolution, what i mean is that our system of education encourages blind acceptance of facts (easier to score well in the exams, you see) than arriving at a conclusion through reasoning. And once our understanding of evolution is tempered by our reasoning, he implications that will be drawn is bound to make the religious bandwagon uncomfortable.
If someone stops reasoning and exploring then you opt for easy option that is to make some fascinating and easy to hold lines like God created us out of nothing. Dethroning of Archaeopteryx as the basal bird should be considered as one more step towards truth. It shows that how scientific community thrives for truth. It shows its adaptability to new findings. Truth evolves, it unfolds itself slowly. This is the essence of science and alsop of evolution.
@Vivek - In my opinion, Creationism not being prevalent in India
is not a feature of our religiosity, as you say, but a feature of
our poor science education. People understand evolution and
natural selection like they understand that benzene has 6 carbon
atoms - as facts to be taken in uncontested, and filed away
unprocessed. The vast majority of people do not begin to
understand the implications of those scientific facts, what it
means to reconcile these ideas and make them fit with one's
worldview. The moment kids understand that evolution suggests
that all the wondrous life forms we see around us can be
explained without the need to posit a "designer", then this
implication will seep in and raise uncomfortable questions about
faith and religion. Once that happens, expect a backlash from
religious parents and from right-wing religious leaders.
I fully second Devi. While we in India are very religious (regardless of which religion
we belong to), we seem to usually let common sense take precedence, and realize
that religion has a different purpose than science, education etc. and need not
encroach on it. Also, we are better able to adjust to contradictions. Moreover,
education is highly prized and we are willing to believe in facts, even if we may
sometimes be too eager to accept things on face value.
In the US, the situation is dramatically different. If the religious right were to
decide that the earth is not round and that the sun rises in the north, they would
manage to convince their followers of it. In some ways, a certain section of US
society willingly wants to live in the Dark Ages.
Let us keep this spirit alive and not allow fanatics like the Ram Setu crowd to instil
a fundamentalist way of thinking in our minds.
Evolution is a fact. The theory of evolution , like any other scientific theory, goes through the process of validation and falsification. As we unearth new evidences , we test our theory and its implications. We constantly update our knowledge. Unfortunately, we humans , when we become besotted with a particular idea, for example 'God being the Creator', we almost always negate evidence to the contrary . Psychological research reveals that we are less likely to falsify our most cherished beliefs simply because the human mind is unable to digest the state of ignorance and accept its culpability. In the end the fact remains , we humans are subject to the same laws of nature as the rest of animal and plant species. All of us have evolved from the more primitive living forms and in this regard there is nothing special about us.
"Though the fossil record is far from complete, several prized fossils central to the theory of evolution have been unearthed in the past few years. "What does it mean for the fossil record to be 'complete'? As I understand it, the evidence from fossils is already abundant and no biologist is waiting, with bated breath, for newer fossils to be unearthed so that the "fact" of evolution is vindicated. Creationists take the assertion that the fossil record is incomplete as the take their religion: on faith, a habit of mind that makes people pretend to know things that they don't know. Even when a new fossil is found that fills a gap in the fossil record, creationists rejoice because in their skewed view of things, two new gaps have opened up. @Devi - I am not as confident. I've already seen anti- evolutionist thinking creeping in. The cult called ISKCON already publishes books against evolution and its members behave exactly like creationists from the US.
It is the mark of an ignorant mind that their myth must explain everything or be useless. I'm paraphrasing Claude Levi Strauss, I think. A scientist takes it as a given that we our knowledge will always be smaller than our ignorance.
Most of us do not appreciate ourselves and our country for the liberal nation that we are. In India, there is great acceptability for the theory of evolution even while we remain staunchly religious. Europe too is quite liberal on this issue. But in United states, the socio-political space is dominated by conservatives who for obvious reasons of vote-bank , want to marginalize the fact of evolution.
Please Email the Editor