I'm amazed that there are still so many people who talk about evolution as "just a theory" or, worse yet, deny that it even exists as a result of natural biological processes. Most of the time this is because people ignorantly believe that to accept evolution means that we all "came from a monkey." As if one day a female monkey laid down and gave birth to a modern day human. I think it will be difficult, if not impossible, to ever counter this sort of abject stupidity. Truly, how can we hope that people will ever be more enlightened when more than a quarter of our population hasn't read a book in the past year? Of those who have, more than half have read only one book. And I'd be willing to wager that even among those who have read a couple of books, they were probably fiction or some useless, self-help drivel from the Oprah book club.
Well, despite this, I am undeterred. I am still fascinated by the development of life on this planet and will share stories supportive of natural selection and evolution whenever I can. Last week I came across a really amazing article, the link to which is at the end of this post. Seems that scientists took some salmonella up for a ride on the space shuttle to see what effect space flight would have on the little buggers. Surprisingly, and not so pleasantly, they found the astro-salmonella to be much more deadly than its terrestrial counterpart. Introduced to laboratory mice, the space faring variety had a higher rate of lethality and killed more quickly.
The amazing part of the story is that scientists discovered that this increased lethality was due to the fact that 167 genes of the bacteria had changed while in orbit. While I'm not for deadlier strains of food poisoning, the fact is that this is really cool and illustrates one of the main concepts of adaptation and evolution. This rapidly multiplying organism reacted to a change in its environment by changing its genetic makeup. These kinds of changes can often only be seen in bacteria and viruses because they multiply so fast that they can go through several generations of change in days or even hours. This may not be as amazing as developing an opposable thumb but it still illustrates that life, left to its own devices, finds a way to alter itself
to remain viable and successful. The fact the the salmonella is more deadly is probably a mere artifact of the genetic changes but the changes themselves were undoubtedly a response to the altered environment and an attempt to thrive.
Again, this is the nature of evolution. When I have arguments about this with people, they are often dismissive because they want to see some big, near miraculous change. They ask why people don't have gills or why we can't fly. While there is evidence of occasional leaps in evolution of species, more often it appears to be more of a slow tweaking process, made even more painfully slow by the short lifespan and low birth rate of human beings. The fact is that I get to view only the tiniest speck of human existance on this planet. I knew my great grandmother, who was born in the latter 1800's, and I'll probably get to see my nephews' kids if they have any. If I live another 45 years, I'll have been able to observe humans from about 1880 to 2052. Not even a 200 year sample. And the earth is 4.5 billion years old. In that 150+ years of observation on my part, there will be about 6 iterations of people from my great-grandmother to my great-nieces or nephews. Six cycles of life is nothing to observe a process that can take millions of years to create a visible change. This is why people looking for modern miracles of evolution in humans feel so frequently cheated.
However, if we look at the lowly bacteria, that can go through six generations in an hour, then we can start to see things happening. Even most critics would admit that a world with different rules for humans and bacteria really doesn't make sense. If life, even simple forms, can demonstrate adaptation to its environment and we can map the very changes that lead these specimens to be more successful and vital, then it only makes sense that all life possesses, and utilizes, the same mechanisms of change. That, to me, is wonderous. And it doesn't require even a hint of supernatural intervention.
To check out the article, click below:
7 comments:
Great writing. We've had this same conversation many times, and I obviously agree.
I definitely agree that much of people's need for religion comes from their absolute inability to "get" how truly minute their lifespan is in terms of the age of the Universe.
They don't get it mostly because they don't educate themselves on these things. Why? Mostly because they are somewhat dry and boring, and they take lots of time and reflection to learn.
It's far, far easier and much more enjoyable (to the average person) to live in ignorance, while placing all their faith in an invisible man.
People will go to drastic lengths to avoid having to learn.
...now when does that monkey "pop!" into a human being???
Thanks Boring. I've pretty much given up on changing the way people think. Now I still talk and comment about these topics but it is mostly for myself. I like to continue to learn and challenge my beliefs. I'm also not going to be ashamed to tout evidence that supports them. And I'm not going to be ashamed to continue to use the word "tout."
I've always thought that you have really nice "touts."
Why, why, why can't people make the leap? Self-protection is a deeply powerful thing.
I wish I were a pinot grape.
Mando - Right, but what are they protecting themselves from? What's so scary about this being all there is? Or that we arose as a result of natural selection rather than divine intervention? I just don't get the source of the fear.
Interesting. I do sometimes wonder if for all those diseases for which we have no cure if they are indeed constantly mutating. For example, MS runs in my family, each person has different levels of it, there is no cure. Besides environmental issues I ponder if each form of this said disease could be a different genetic mutation.
I realize they have certain genetic markers to determine many diseases, but, does it mutate depending on it's environment? Each person, each body a new environment.
Very interesting post.
Vixen - Thanks for stopping by. That's a pretty interesting point. I've thought of that myself. Certainly we know that the most simple sources of illness, virus and bacteria, mutate very rapidly with their environment. I think it is amzing how they say you never catch the same cold twice. I rarely get colds so I wonder how my immune system has developed to handle them.
Something like MS is a real puzzle. I think this is part of why it has been so difficult to defeat, because the variations in presentation from person to person can be so wide.
Thanks for the comment. Hope you stop by again.
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