| |||||
МЕНЮ
| Impact of Evolution on Human Thought. EvolutionImpact of Evolution on Human Thought. EvolutionFarid Gazizov Evolution by definition of Webster dictionary is a gradual development
of simple matters into more complex. When most of the people hear “Powerful telescopes reveal new stars coalescing from galactic dust, just as our sun did more than 4.5 billion years ago. The earth itself formed shortly thereafter, when rock, dust, and gas circling the sun condensed into the planets of our solar system. Fossils of primitive microorganisms show that life had emerged on earth by about 3.8 billion years ago (Teaching about evolution and the Natural of Science, ch. 1).” Many people throughout the centuries have been trying to find
explanations to the questions like: Why are surrounding us things the way
they are?; why some type of animals resemble another one? It was hard to
answer these questions without proper tools, experience and background
knowledge. Even nowadays, not all questions are answered. Darwin was the
first human who succeeded in responding to these questions. He was the
first one who put discovered facts and knowledge available by his time in
one big picture. In attempts to explain the history Darwin created the
most outstanding achievement of human beings that had enormous impact of
our thinking—evolutionary thinking. Ernest Mayer, in his book “One Long “It is almost impossible for a modern person to project back to the early half of the nineteenth century and reconstruct the thinking of this pre-Darwinian period, so great has been the impact of Darwinism on our views (E. Mayr, pp. 1) For our further discussion, one should explicitly distinguish between
evolution and evolutionary theory. Evolution (history) is a serious of
facts that occurred since the birth of the earth, while evolutionary theory
is the best way available nowadays to explain why evolution happened the
way it happened, but not otherwise. Both evolution and evolutionary theory
make series of claims. Some of them are secondary and some are primary. Primary Claims of Evolution The earth is over 4 billion years old. In the past when technology was not very developed it was hard to prove age of the earth. Scientists had been aging by measuring the rate of sedimentation. Another method of defining age, which was used in 1800s, is noticing what kinds of fossil rocks have. Currently it is done by chemical analysis of composition of fossil. “Some elements such as uranium, undergo radioactive decay to produce to produce other elements. By measuring the quantities of radioactive elements and elements into which they decay in rocks, geologists can determine how much time has elapsed since the rock cooled from initially molten state (Teaching About Evolution and the Nature of Science).” Life on the earth did not appear right after appearance of the earth. “However, a few pre-Cambrian organisms left traces of their existence. Some ancient rocks contain stromatolities—the remnants of bacteria that grew in columns like stacked pancakes (Teaching About Evolution, ch. 3, pp. 2) Extinction is a major feature of biological evolution. It is in a
tight connection with natural selection. Natural selection works only by
means of surviving of changes, in some sense useful, and therefore,
striking root. In the consequence, fast increase of the numbers of all
organic matters in geometrical progression, every natural habitat already
filed to the limits by its habitants. From this it follows those more
adapted forms will increase in numbers and less adapted, will decrease in
numbers and become rare. Rarity of the form is a predecessor of the
extinction. Every form represented by small numbers of individuals has big
chances for a complete extinction in consequence of significant climatic
swings within a year or in consequence of temporary increase of enemies. For example, during laying eggs season, sea turtles hay hundreds of
thousands eggs. While hatching and getting to the ocean most of the
generation becomes easy pray of sea birds. Since just hatched turtles do
not have a hard cover that could protect them, many of them dye in the
ocean. By maturity time only about one out of thousand turtles stay alive. Another example that mechanisms of evolutionary change are observable and verifiable is the one described by Henry Walter Bates. “In 1862, Henry Walter Bates made brilliant use of the Darwinian mechanism of natural selection asking why it is that some species of butterfly very closely mimic species of butterfly, essentially quite different, Bates proved beyond doubt that the answer lies in adaptive advantage brought about by natural selection. The mimicked insects are highly distasteful to birds who think that they belong to distasteful species. Bates showed experimentally that birds learn to avoid distasteful insects, and that the closer the mimic, the less change there is that the insect will be eaten.” Secondary Claims of Evolution When the earth appeared for the first time it was very different from
its current conditions. The surface of the earth was represented by bare
bedrock. At the time of its birth, the earth represented cold matter,
close by its composition to meteorites. Material it was mad of, contained
radioactive elements. In consequence of the heat excretion while
radioactive decomposition of the core and gravitational compression. Location of continents and oceans were very different. According to Starting at 1950 up to 1970 evidence begin exposing to the world that
support hypothesis of continent’s slow movement. Sonar mapping of the
ocean floor showed winding, continuous ridges system around the planet. Not only topography of the earth has changed, but composition atmosphere has changed as well. Current atmosphere contains a lot of oxygen, which is result of existence of life. During photosynthesis, green plants consume water and dioxide and release oxygen in atmosphere. This is considered to be a secondary claim because even if the earth would not developed as it considered, it would have no impact on evolutionary theory. Origin of human being was an interest of human more than origin of
plant and animals. Attempt to understand and explain origin of humans is
expressed in religions, legends of all kind of trails and folks. For a
long period of time science knowledge were abrupt and incomplete in order
to solve a problem of human origin. Only in 1857 Darwin expressed
hypothesis, and in 1871 in his book “The Origin of man and relation to
sex,” convincelly proved that humans originate from pre-existing humanlike,
but were not created by intelligent designer. Role of social factors,
which was pointed out by Darwin, was detailly described by Fredrik Engels
in his book “Role of labor in the process of turning ape into humans.” Human and vertebrates commonness is strongly supported by similar arrangement of internal organs: skeleton, nerve system, blood system, respiration, and digestion. Rudiments and atavisms are very important evidences of human
relatedness to animals. There are about 90 rudiments in human body: coccyx
bone (remaining of the reduced tail); folds in the corner of the eyes Common details of the body arrangement are evidence of close relativeness of human and anthropoids: wrist with flat nails, shape of eyes and years, the same number of canine and molar teeth, complete change of baby teeth, and so forth. Physiological commonness is very important: the same blood groups, diseases (tuberculosis, fly, smallpox, cholera, AIDS, pneumonia) and parasites (louse). Besides numerous common features, there is a number of explicit differences evidencing that its current stage, human is considered to be different species. Only human has ability of upright walking and related to that peculiarity of structure of the S- shaped backbone with explicit neck and lumber bend, low extended pelvis, and etc. Human skull is higher and more rounded without superciliary arch; brain part of skull is in most part dominated by facial; high forehead, weak jaws with small canine. Human brain is about two and half times bigger than one of humanlike apes, and 3-4 times heavier. Human being evolved from other pre-existing species. Even in ancient
times it has been noticed that humans have a lot of in common with a other
animals just like other animals human had the same internal organs (heart,
lungs, liver etc.). Ancient Greeks had a scale of living organisms known
by their time. Human being was placed at the end of the scale. Below were
higher animals like houses, sheep and so forth, but it is hard to believe
that humans were next step in the biological evolution of living organisms
right after higher animals. Only by the eighteenth century ape-like being
became known to Europe. This discover shed light on a huge gap between
higher animal and humans (Darwinism defended, Ruse, pp. 230). After that
some scientists (for example Huxley) assumed that humans descended from
apes. Later, having examined all differences between apes and humans, With a change of place of inhabitation, there were some changes in diet of our ancestor. Anthropologists suggested that tooth reduction took place because our ancestor started to use grass seeds and the like as a food source (Darwinism Defended). Major Claims of Evolutionary Theory Natural selection is the major moving factor of the evolution of the
living organisms. Almost at the same time, several English naturalists
arrived at the idea of existence of natural selection (P. Mathew (1831), A. In process of natural selection species more accommodated to
surrounding environment survive, those who do are not, go extinct. “Organisms in nature topically produce more offspring that can survive and reproduce given the constraints of food, space, and other resources in the environment. These offspring often differ from one another in ways that are heritable—that is, they can pass on the differences genetically to their own offspring. If competing offspring have traits that are advantageous in a given environment, they will survive and pass on those traits. As differences continue to accumulate over generations, populations of organisms diverge from their ancestors.” Process of natural selection consists of two steps: the first one is
reproduction of genetically different species; the second step is surviving
of the most adopted individuals in surrounding environment. An example can
be nest of birds in which some nestlings have a little bit different
coloring than others. If this coloring better matches the tree these birds
in habit, this will give them advantage of better hiding from predators,
which leads to increase in changes of reproduction. Below are example that “The Duke of Argyll, in his “Reigh of Law,” has pointed out the admirable adaptation of the colors of the woodcock to its protection. The various browns and yellows and pale ash-color that occur in fallen leaves are all reproduced in its plumage, so that when according to its habit it rests upon the ground under trees, it is almost impossible to detect it. In snipes the colors are modified so as to be equally in harmony with the prevalent forms and colors of marshy vegetation. Mr. J.M.Lester, in a paper read before the Rugby School Natural History Society, observes: --“The wood-dove, when perched amongst the branches of its favorite fir, is scarcely discernible; whereas, were it among some lighter foliage, the blue and purple tints in its plumage would far sooner betray it. The robin redbreast too, although it might be thought that on its breast made it much easier to be seen, is in reality not at all endangered by it, since it generally contributes to get among some russet or yellow fading leaves, where the red matches very well with the autumn tints, and the brown of the rest of the body with the bare branches.” Core of natural selection is variation within the kind. If variation does not exist either entire kind will survive and stay unchanged or it will go extinct. But what it a source of variation? The ultimate source of variation is mutations in genes. If new traits gained through mutation leads to successful survival and reproduction than new traits will be inherited and spread within the population. Mutation is random, but natural selection is not. All living organisms that currently inhabit the earth share common ancestry. Through the history by means of natural selection and variation first, simple forms of life were evolving into different, more complex forms. How to prove it? “The discovery of the structure of DNA by Francis Crick and James Watson in 1953 extended the study of evolution to most fundamental level the sequence of the chemical basis in DNA both specifies the order of amino acids in proteins and determines which proteins are source of both change and continuity in evolution. The modification of DNA through occasional changes or rearrangements in the base sequences underlies the emergence of new traits, and thus of new species, in evolution. At the same time, all organisms use the same molecular codes to translate DNA base sequences into Protein amino acid sequences. This uniformity in genetic code is power evidence for the interrelatedness of living things.” (Teaching About Evolution and the Nature of Science, ch. 2, pp. 4) Another powerful argument that supports common ancestry is a fact that man is developed from an ovule, about the 125th of an inch in diameter, which does not differ from the ovules of other animals. At a very early period, the embryo can hardly be distinguished from another member of vertebrate kind. In order to convince one that evolution happened the way evolutionary
theory describes it evidences must be presented. Major evidence and
argument of evolutionary theory is that all of the mechanisms of
evolutionary theory change are currently observable. Let us take for
example main mechanism of evolutionary change—natural selection. Nowadays
our society is facing serious public health problem. Bacteria that
medicine used to successfully fight with antibiotics is becoming more
resistant to one. This means that week bacteria go extinct and only strong Bibliography 1) “Long Argument,” Ernest Mayr, Harvard University Press, 1991. 2) “Darwinism defended,” Michael Ruse, Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, 1982. 3) “The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex,” Charles Darwin, 1974. 4) “Wonderful Life,” Stephen Jay Gould, W.W. Norton & Company, 1989. 5) “Contributions to the theory of natural selection,” Wallace, Alfred Russel, AMS Press, 1973. ----------------------- A. africanus H. habilis A. robustus H. erectus H. sapiens |
ИНТЕРЕСНОЕ | |||
|