creation of mankind

8/12/2019 Creation of Mankind

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CREATION OF MANKIND:

DARWINISMTHE THEORY OF EVOLUTION

BY NATURAL SELECTION

NAME: ELWIN ENGKU KANGON

STUDENT ID: 2014219154

PROGRAM: ALU4 (SOUTHAMPTON)

CLASS: CTES10 - THEOLOGY AND PHILOSOPHY

LECTURER: WAN NOORLIZA WAN ABDULLAH SANI


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CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION 3

1. BIOGRAPHY OF CHARLES DARWIN 42. THEORY BEFORE EVOLUTION 73. THEORY OF EVOLUTION BY NATURAL SELECTION 84. ORIGIN OF MAN 125. SUPPORTING EVIDENCE FOR THEORY OF EVOLUTION 186. OPPOSING ARGURMENT AGAINST EVOLUTION 20

CONCLUSION 22

REFERENCES 23


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INTRODUCTION

For thousands of years, human beings have wondered about the meaning of life.

Where do we come from? What is our purpose of life? For thousands of years, the answer is

provided by many religions, involving the idea of a Godor gods.

God made us, the story goes, and put us here for a special reason. All of these

answers regards humans as exceptional creatures. Human are not just animals. Unlike animal,

only humans have free will and conscience.

Not until modern times, and the arrival of data of a different kind, has humans able to

approach the problem of his origin from a new angle. We live in a time where reason and the

conquest of science claim to provide to all the great questions asked by the human intellect.

In 1858 July 1, Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace, has introduce to public

about a revolutionary theory concerning the origin of man, at a meeting of the Linnean

Society in London. This new theory in the perspective of science has been attracting massive

responses from the society, either inspiration or fear since then.


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BIOGRAPHY OF CHARLES DARWIN

Figure 1. Charles Darwin

Early LifeNaturalist Charles Robert Darwin was born on February 12, 1809, in the tiny

merchant town of Shrewsbury, England. He was the second youngest of six children. Darwin

came from a long line of scientists. His father, Dr R.W. Darwin, was as a medical doctor, and

his grandfather, Dr Erasmus Darwin, was a renowned botanist. Darwins mother, Susanna,

died when he was only 8 years old. Darwin was a child of wealth and privilege who loved to

explore nature.

In October 1825, at age 16, Darwin enrolled at Edinburgh University along with his

brother Erasmus. Two years later, Charles Darwin became a student at Christ's College in

Cambridge. His father hoped he would follow in his footsteps and become a medical doctor,

but the sight of blood made Darwin queasy. His father suggested he study to become a parson

instead, but Darwin was far more inclined to study natural history.


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Voyage on the HMS BeagleWhile Darwin was at Christ's College, botany professor John Stevens Henslow

became his mentor. After Darwin graduated Christ's College with a Bachelor of Arts degree

in 1831, Henslow recommended him for a naturalists position aboard the HMS Beagle. The

ship, commanded by Captain Robert FitzRoy, was to take a five-year survey trip around the

world. The voyage would prove the opportunity of a lifetime for the budding young

naturalist.

On December 27, 1831, the HMS Beagle launched its voyage around the world with

Darwin in tow. Over the course of the trip, Darwin collected a variety of natural specimens,

including birds, plants and fossils. Through hands-on research and experimentation, he had

the unique opportunity to closely observe principles of botany, geology and zoology. The

Pacific Islands and Galapagos Archipelago were of particular interest to Darwin, as was

South America.

Upon his return to England in 1836, Darwin began to write up his findings in the

Journal of Researches, published as part of Captain FitzRoys larger narrative and later edited

into the Zoology of the Voyage of the Beagle. The trip had a monumental effect on Darwins

view of natural history. He began to develop a revolutionary theory about the origin of living

beings that was contrary to the popular view of other naturalists at the time.


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Theory of EvolutionDarwin's exposure to specimens all over the globe raised important questions. Other

naturalists believed that all species either came into being at the start of the world, or were

created over the course of natural history. In either case, the species were believed to remain

much the same throughout time. Darwin, however, noticed similarities among species all

over the globe, along with variations based on specific locations, leading him to believe that

they had gradually evolved from common ancestors. He came to believe that species survived

through a process called "natural selection," where species that successfully adapted to meet

the changing requirements of their natural habitat thrived, while those that failed to evolve

and reproduce died off.

In 1858, after years of further scientific investigation, Darwin publically introduced

his revolutionary theory of evolution in a letter read at a meeting of the Linnean Society. On

November 24, 1859, he published a detailed explanation of his theory in his best-known

work, On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.

Death and LegacyFollowing a lifetime of devout research, Charles Darwin died at his family home, Down

House, in London, on April 19, 1882, and was buried at Westminster Abbey. During the next

century, DNA studies revealed evidence of his theory of evolution, although controversy

surrounding its conflict with Creationismthe religious view that all of nature was born of

Godstill abounds today.1

1Biography.com. Charles Darwin. Retrieved on 3

rdJune 2014


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THEORY BEFORE EVOLUTION

Fixity of SpeciesBefore theory of evolution is introduced to the world, humans has been in a single

group which believe that species were fixed, unchanging entities. The idea that species

are fixed and unchanging dates back to Aristotle (384-322 BC), the great Greek

philosopher and scientist.2 He based his belief on the observation of his own eyes

monkeys give birth to monkeys and humans give birth to humans.

Therefore, Aristotle concluded that one species could never give rise to another. This

is known as Theory of Types, application of Plato's Theory of Forms to biology. It states

that species reflect existence of unchanging, ideal form, the "universal" or "type", and

variation represents an imperfect manifestation of underlying type. Hence, variation was

not all that important--just "noise".3

CreationismCreationism is defined as the belief that the universe and living organisms originate

from specific acts of divine creation, as in the biblical account, rather than by natural

processes such as evolution.4 Creationist believe that God had created each species

independently at the beginning of time, and that each species then remained exactly the

same up to present. Many individuals who believe in Judeo-Christian account of creation

in the book of Genesis have banded together to form political pressure group to impose

their belief on public education.5

THEORY OF EVOLUTION BY NATURAL SELECTION

2

Dylan Evans, Howard Selina, Introducing Evolution, 2001, page 9.3Edu365.cat. Evolutionary Thought Before Darwin. Retrieve on 3

rdJune 2014.

4Oxforddictionaries.com. Creationism. Retrieve on 3

rdJune

5Monroe W. Strickberger, Evolution, 1990, page 58.


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Before discussing more about origin of man in the context of evolution, I believe it is better

to introduce generally about the main idea behind this revolutionary theory and the

mechanism which governs the process.

EvolutionEvolution is defined as the process by which different kinds of living organism are

believed to have developed from earlier forms during the history of the earth.6 In other

word, according to theory of evolution, humans are descended from non-human

ancestors. Ultimately, every species on Earth is descended from a single common

ancestor, just as the branches of tree all spring from a single tree trunk.

Figure 2. Tree of Evolution

Lamarckian

6Oxforddictionaries.com. Evolution. Retrieve on 3

rdJune


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Before Darwin, the theory of evolution and its mechanism has long exist in the

society of either science or theology, but it has been developed by intellectuals using

science over the period. For instances, Jean Baptiste Lamarck, a French biologist

proposed that the variations among organisms originate through a response of the

organism to the needs of the environment, and its ability to respond in a particular

direction which accounts for the adaptability of a trait.7

Figure 3. Mechanism of evolution by Lamarck

Natural Selection

7Monroe W. Strickberger, Evolution, 1990, page 22.


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Darwinsmost original contribution to the theory of evolution is not the theory itself,

it was the theory of natural selection, in which explain the mechanism of how and why

evolution occurs in nature. Natural selection is a very simple idea, yet it can explain the

complex order we see around us in the biological world.

Natural selection is often explained by using the analogy of artificial selection which

is practical. In artificial selection, the breeder will choose the attributes that will

determine the survival or reproductive success of the stock being breed. In other words,

natural selection is basically artificial selection, yet with Nature - almost as a personified

agentreplacing the human breeder.8

Below shows an excerpt from Charles Darwins book The Origin of Species chapter

III as it explained the action of natural selection by beginning with struggle for

existence which we would now call ecology.

As more individuals are produced than can possibly survive, there must in

every case be a struggle for existence, either one individual with another of the same

species, or with the individuals of distinct species, or with the physical conditions of life.

It is the doctrine of Malthus applied with manifold force to the whole animal and

vegetable kingdoms.9

Next, the role of nature as a selector is emphasized by the existence of an ecological

factor that hold the size of population in check. These factor define a struggle for

8Michael R. Rose, Laurence D. Muller, Evolution and ecology of the organism, 2006, page 127.

9Talkorigins.org. The Origin of Species Chapter 3: Struggle for Existence. Retrieved on 4

thJune 2014


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existence, involving competition, predation and inimical environment.10 This will

eventually lead to differences in the ability of offspring to survive depending on the traits

they have, in which variation that cause higher survival ability in the organism will be

perpetuate to the next generation, whereas variation that cause the opposite is eliminated

as the organism is unable to survive.

The natural selection is easily illustrated by the following diagram.

Figure 4. The natural selection.

ORIGIN OF MAN



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Finally, after having a basic understanding of the theory of evolution and its mechanism by

natural selection, I will discuss the origin of man based on the theory of evolution.

Primate Evolutionary TreeThere are several arguments about the sequence of early ancestor of man as some

researcher argued that we are considered as the third species of chimpanzee,11while other

argued that we are considered as a new lineage of species which have been evolved from

Old World apes, which split from the rest of primates about 20 million years ago.

Evolutionary tree of primate has two main branches: prosimian and anthropoid.

Prosimians include tarsier, lorises, lemurs, and pottos. These species cannot manipulate

objects as well as other primates can, and they have relatively small brains.

While in anthropoid, there are three living branches: New World monkey, Old World

monkeys, and the hominoid (apes and humans). The split between New World and Old

World monkeys provides an example of biogeography. In the other hand, hominoid then

branched to more group of species which is represented by:Hylobates (gibbons), Pongo

(orang-utans), Gorilla (gorillas), Pan (chimpanzee)and Hominid (humans).12

The diagram below simplify the idea of the evolutionary tree of primate.

11Jared Diamond, The Third Chimpanzee: The Evolution and Future of the Human Animal, 1992, page 2.



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Figure 5. Primate evolutionary tree.

HominidPrehistoric Human

The first recognized prehistoric human remains were found in Gibraltar in 1848 and in the

Neander Valley in 1856. Initially their distinctive features were thought to be the result of

disease, but when more complete remains were found in the 1880s scientists realized that

Neanderthals were an extinct type of human being, perhaps even a different human species.

Around 1900 more Neanderthal skeletons were discovered, mainly in France, as were the

remains of another being, the Cro-Magnon -- anatomically modern -- from approximately the

same period.

Between 1891 and 1893, Eugene Dubois found a cranium and a femur in Java which he

thought belonged to a giant chimpanzee, but later decided was a human


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ancestor,Pithecanthropus erectus(later calledHomo erectus). There was much resistance to

accepting Neanderthal andPithecanthropusas human ancestors. Some believed anatomically

modern man had to be older than either Neanderthal orPithecanthropus, which were

considered apelike evolutionary dead ends. Others accepted an evolutionary line going

fromPithecanthropus, via Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon, to modern man. In 1925 Raymond

Dart and his co-workers found the skull of a young child in South Africa with both human

and apelike characteristics,Australopithecus africanus. Much older than anything yet found,

it was eventually placed at the beginning of the line of human ancestors, so that the

theoretical sequence wasAustralopithecus, living a few million years ago;Pithecanthropus,

about half a million years old; Neanderthals, living between 100,000 and 30,000 years ago;

and Cro-Magnon, about 40,000 years ago.

Louis Leakey, however, believed that modern man was older than generally postulated. In

1960 he found the remains of a being with a bigger brain thanAustralopithecuswhich also

looked more human, and he called it Homo habilis. In the 1960s opinions were strongly

divided: one group was convinced Neanderthals belonged to the line of direct descent, while

another group pointed to great differences between Neanderthals and anatomically modern

humans. Some consideredAustralopithecusa real human ancestor, others thoughtHomo

habilisfit the pattern better. In time doubts were expressed about whetherHomo habiliswas

one legitimate species or several different ones. While searching for more humanlike

ancestors, Leakey discovered another species in 1959, which was later categorized as a more

robust version of theAustralopithecus-type found by Dart. In 1972 Richard Leakey and his

team at Lake Turkana discovered the almost complete skeleton of a juvenileHomo erectus-

like being about 1.5 million years old, much older than those that had been found in Asia.

This discovery madeHomo erectuscontemporaneous withAustralopithecus, which did not

fit the uniplanar picture. Paleoanthropologists proposed thatAustralopithecusrobustuswas a


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dead-end specialization ofA. africanus, but this hypothesis began to fall apart with the

discovery of a robust type 2.5 million years old. The simple picture was beginning to blur.

Another important find was Don Johanson's discovery in Ethiopia in 1974

ofAustralopithecus afarensis, better known as Lucy, estimated to be between 3 and 4 million

years old. Mary Leakey also made discoveries of early hominids, all archaic in appearance

and between 3.6 and 3.8 million years old. Just as old are the so-called Laetoli footprints -- a

trail of human-like prints preserved in volcanic ash. More and more hominid bones have also

surfaced in Asia. Between 1985 and 1988 excavations in the Lunggupo Cave in Sechuan,

China, producedHomo erectus-like remains dated by Chinese scientists as old as 1.9 million

years, but some think they compare better withHomo habilis-like beings.

In the 1990s discoveries of new types of hominids continued to make news, such

asArdipithecus ramidusin Ethiopia, estimated to be 4.4 million years old,

andAustralopithecus anamensisin Kenya, 4.2 million years old. Additional finds of erectus-

like hominids were located in Java, Indonesia, and in Dmanisi in Russian Georgia. In 2002

Michel Brunet and his team found a complete cranium in Chad's Djurab

Desert, Sahelanthropus tchadensi, dated at nearly 7 million years old. He considers this the

earliest human forebear, but experts do not agree how these beings are actually related to

humans, and some doubt if they are related at all. Some scientists still believe in uniplanar

evolution, while others see many parallel lines. ThatHomo erectusturns out to be

contemporaneous with the laterAustralopithecusis a hard nut to crack for those who want to

have one species transform into the other.

In the twentieth century many more Neanderthal remains were also found. Those in

Western Europe have extreme brow ridges, a long head, and a heavy robust frame, while in


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Central Europe and the Near East this form is less extreme. In Western Europe they were

contemporaneous with anatomically modern man for a short time and then seem to have

disappeared quickly, while in the Middle East Neanderthals and modern man coexisted for

about 50,000 years. Some scientists continue to believe Neanderthals evolved into modern

man; others as adamantly say modern man had evolved elsewhere and replaced Neanderthals.

In the 1990s excavations in the Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain, brought to light two different

finds: numerous remains of very early Neanderthal-like beings, dated approximately 300,000

years old; and remains of hominids dated at about 800,000 to 1 million years old, with some

Neanderthal traits but also remarkably modern. Scientists have not decided whether the latter

is a new species or a type similar to archaicHomo sapiens.

There is two theory that currently is being debated as the model for evolution of man: The

Multiregional Model and Out of Africa Model. The Multiregional Model holds that modern

man evolved out ofHomo erectusin different regions of the world more or less

simultaneously. It involves little population migration, and transitional fossils should be

found everywhere. The other theory holds that modern man evolved somewhere in Africa,

and from there spread all over the world, replacing existing archaic hominid populations.

This Out of Africa Model implies that extensive migration took place.

If the Multiregional Model is correct, early examples of modern humans should appear

simultaneously throughout the Old World, which is not yet seen in the fossil record. The Out

of Africa Model also seemed supported in the 1980s by the mitochondrial DNA research of

Allan Wilson, Rebecca Cann, and Mark Stoneking, which was used to show that all living

humans could trace part of their genetic inheritance to a single female -- a Mitochondrial Eve

-- who lived in Africa between 150,000 and 100,000 years ago. These results have been

severely criticized, however, as too ambiguous and as supposing too fast a molecular clock

rate. The researchers assumed it to be 2-4%, while others are of the opinion that 0.7% is more


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accurate, which would make the ancestral Eve 800,000 years old. Critics who repeated the

tests have found other trees of descent, claiming that Asia was indicated or that there was no

support for choosing one geographic area over another.13

Figure 6. Hominid Family Tree showing a possible line of descent as proposed by

Ian Tattersall and Jeffrey Schwartz in Extinct Humans.

SUPPORTING EVIDENCE FOR THEORY OF EVOLUTION

Evidence From Fossils

13Theosophy-nw.org. The Quest for Human Origins. Retrieved on 5

thJune 2014.


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Paleontological evidence is the main source of information of information about life

forms that are now extinct. Fossilisation is an extremely rare, chance event; scavengers and

bacterial action normally dismember and decompose dead plant and animal structure before

they can be fossilised. 14

Fossils is often referred as an evidence of evolution as it show correlation between slight

pattern change in trait or structure and the period of time. Fossils or organisms that show the

intermediate states between an ancestral form and that of its descendants are referred to as

transitional forms.

Figure 7. Example of fossil evidence used to explain evolution of tetrapod organisms.

Biochemistry and Genetics Information

The biochemical differences between living things of today are limited. This makes it

possible to measure the relatedness of different groups of organisms by the amount of the

14John Murray, Genetics and Evolution, 1999, page 60.


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differences between specific molecules such as DNA, proteins and enzyme systems. Unlike

the information based on morphological and other phenotypic traits, the genetics information

such as DNA sequence data inform us that human are 1.2% diverged from chimps.15

One of the example of technique to measure the degree of relationship between species is

by DNA hybridisation. In DNA hybridisation biologists make a hybrid DNA molecule made

from one strand of DNA from one species joined to another DNA strand from another

species. The general rule is that the closer two species are the greater the number of hydrogen

bonds formed, so the more strongly the 2 strands are held together. If we heat single species

DNA it will need to be almost heated to boiling before enough energy is provided to break

the bonds. In hybrid DNA less energy is needed to separate the strands because there are

fewer hydrogen bonds. (Around 1 degree lower for every 1% difference in bases)16

Figure 8. DNA hybridisation.

OPPOSING ARGURMENT AGAINST EVOLUTION

Characteristic of Conifer Plant and Antelope

15

Norman A. Johnson, Darwinian detectives: revealing the natural history of genes and genomes,2007, page 125.16

Biofort.wordpress.com. AS unit 2 Classification and using DNA, proteins, courtship. Retrieved on 5th

June

2014.


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According to the law of natural selection, such imperfections as the excessive

development of a single characteristic should not be allowed to develop and perpetuate

themselves to the extent that they harm the animal or vegetal concerned. Nevertheless, it is a

well-known fact that certain conifer plants produce chemical compounds that attract

coleoptera which then devour them. The production of these chemical compounds is

therefore responsible for the death of the plant. This process has been going on for millions of

years: natural selection does not intervene to save pine and fir trees from destruction by

insects.

Similarly, the antelope is able to escape its enemies by its extreme speed, and yet

there are species of this animal whose hooves contain glands that secrete a particular odour

which, as the antelope runs, is left on the ground. All the attacking carnivores has to do is

follow the sent in order to track down its prey. However, theory of evolution by Darwin does

not eliminate this feature to ensure survival of antelopes.17

Origin of Life

17Dr. Maurice Bucaille, What is the origin of man: the answers of science and the Holy Scriptures,

1989, page 41.


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As theory of evolution state that all organisms share a common ancestor, there must be a

first living things, which come out from non-living matter accidentally in the surface of the

earth once before, without the intervention of Gods creation. Darwin speculated in a letter to

his friend Joseph Hooker that life on earth might have started in a warm little pond:

It is often said that all the conditions for the first production of a living organism are

now present, which could ever have been present.But if (& oh what a big if) we could

conceive in some warm little pond with all sorts of ammonia & phosphoric salts,light, heat,

electricity &c present, that a protein compound was chemically formed, ready to undergo still

more complex changes, at the present day such matter would be instantly devoured, or

absorbed, which would not have been the case before living creatures were formed.18

In contrast, there is a dilemma that occurs in this speculation of the formation of organic

compound from non-organic matter. In a cell, DNA can only replicate itself with the help of

some specialized proteins (enzymes). However, synthesis of these enzymes can only be

realized by the information coded in the DNA.19This condition results in the scenario being

impossible as stated by Prof Leslie Orgel:

It is extremely improbable that proteins and nucleic acids, both of which are structurally

complex, arose spontaneously in the same place at the same time. Yet it also seems

impossible to have one without the other. And so, at first glance, one might have to conclude

that life could never, in fact, have originated by chemical means.20

CONCLUSION

18Charles Darwin, Letter to J. D. Hooker, 1 Feb 1871

19Harun Yahya, The Miracle of Human Creation, 2001, page 165

20Leslie E. Orgel, "The Origin of Life on Earth," Scientific American, Vol.271, October 1994, p. 78


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In conclusion, the theory of evolution by natural selection is not only at the heart of

modern biology, but is increasingly important in many other fields, from artificial intelligence

and psychology to philosophy, anthropology and even sociology. One hundred and fifty five

years after the publication of The Origin of Species (1859), the consequences of Darwins

dangerous idea are still being worked out.

Although backed with several evidence in the perspectives of science, is still not

widely accepted or understood. As we saw in this modern world, Darwins ideas of evolution

and origin of mankind are still the subject of fierce controversy. The argument between

science and religion is still not over, where various organizations and people worldwide

continue to object to the teaching of the theory of evolution in state school and universities.

In my opinion, the truth within the theory of evolution is still not strongly convincing

with more and more opposing views are gaining evidences and their own explanation of

nature to counter the evidences laid out to support the evolution. In the end, there is still no

clear line indicating whether Darwins theory either natural selection or origin of mankind is

true of false. I believe that in the future, with more research and clarity, together with enough

time, people might able to find the origin of human, to find the truth in the theory and the

beliefs in God.

REFERENCES


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Books / Letters

Dylan Evans, Howard Selina (2001). Introducing Evolution. Singapore: Tien WahPress

Monroe W. Strickberger. (1990) Evolution. Boston: Jones and Bartlett Publishers. Michael R. Rose, Laurence D. Muller. (2006). Evolution and ecology of the organism.

Pearson Prentice Hall.

Jared Diamond. (1992). The Third Chimpanzee: The Evolution and Future of theHuman Animal.

John Murray. (1999). Genetics and Evolution. Norman A. Johnson. (2007). Darwinian detectives: revealing the natural history of

genes and genomes. New York: Oxford University Press

Dr. Maurice Bucaille (1989). What is the origin of man: the answers of science andthe Holy Scriptures.

Charles Darwin. (1871). Letter to J. D. Hooker. Harun Yahya. (2001) The Miracle of Human Creation Leslie E. Orgel. (1994) Scientific American, Vol.271, October 1994, "The Origin of

Life on Earth."

Online webpage


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http://www.biography.com. Charles Darwin. Retrieved on 3rd June 2014 http://www.edu365.cat. Evolutionary Thought Before Darwin. Retrieve on 3rd June

2014.

http://www.oxforddictionaries.com. Creationism. Retrieve on 3rd June http://www.talkorigins.org. The Origin of Species Chapter 3: Struggle for Existence.

Retrieved on 4th June 2014

http://www.theosophy-nw.org. The Quest for Human Origins. Retrieved on 5th June2014.

http://www.biofort.wordpress.com. AS unit 2 Classification and using DNA, proteins,courtship. Retrieved on 5th June 2014.

creation of mankind

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