Evolution

Evolution has been mocked by creationist since the idea first came to light. I think most of it is really the misunderstanding of what evolution says. Therefore, I'm going to use a metaphor so at least the basic idea of evolution can be understood. Then I will explain the metaphor so there are no misunderstandings of what I mean. 

Let's say you are walking with some friends. On this walk you are talking, laughing, and not really paying much attention to where you are. After a while there is a gap in the conversation. You look around and realize you are very far from where you started this walk. You may even wonder how you walked so far and didn't notice. However, you know you have been walking so you understand you must have walked all that way. You simply don't remember the walk. You only remember the conversation. 

Every step you take in a walk is a small step that doesn't get you very far. These steps in random directions wouldn't get you very far. However, put these small steps in any one direction and they add up. When walking with friends everyone is walking in the same basic direction. However, another group of friends leaving from the same place at the same time may have walked in a completely different direction and ended up in another completely different location. 

That is the basic idea of how evolution works. Small differences between living things doesn't mean a whole lot at the time. Like one person is taller than another. In this simplified scenario there is no sharing and apples are the only thing to eat. The taller person can reach apples higher on a tree where everyone else would have to only get the lower apples. Then when all the lower apples have all been picked the taller person can still get apples to eat. Now when it comes time to choose a mate who is going to get picked most of the time? Yup, the person that can get the apples off the tall branch because everyone else has been starving and look rather sickly. Taller people tend to have taller kids, so you can see the taller kids will then have an advantage over the shorter kids they same way their parents did. After a few generations it's likely this group of people would then be taller than the original group. That is evolution. 

Some people may say, "That's micro evolution, but macro evolution isn't the same thing and that can't happen." There is no difference between micro and macro evolution except for time. The small changes add up over time. Just like the long walk with friends was nothing more than small steps pointing in a general direction. In the same group of apple eating people after the population gets taller someone is born a darker complexion than the others. This person can go out into the sun to get apples without worrying about a sunburn while the others are hiding under the trees because sunburns suck. Therefore, the darker person is in better health than the rest of them and tends to get the mates more. Their kids have darker skin and then they have the same advantage. Then another person has more hair. The extra hair lets them stay warmer at night than the others. Of course, they are chosen as mates because everyone wants to be warm at night. So after a few generations you have taller people with darker skin and more hair. You keep going with this trend and you will find that the people that are smart enough, strong enough, and coordinated enough to climb the trees tend to get apples when everyone else is already out of apples. Now they are getting the mates. There someone has longer arms and of course the makes climbing the trees easier. Therefore, they now get the apples before anyone else. Someone is born with a longer tail bone. That helps them balance on the tree branches better. After a many generations you see the tail bones have gotten much longer and now can be used like a third hand to hold on to the trees. Lets see what we have now. The people in this group are tall, dark skinned, hairy, intelligent, and have tails. So basically you have tall intelligent monkeys. Wouldn't that be macro evolution? 

How would the new tall intelligent monkeys compared to the original group of short, light skinned, idiots that didn't know how to share or that they could eat more than apples? They would be completely different and no one would think they were related to them. However, as you have just read, they came from that group. That my friends is evolution in a nutshell.

I know the scenario I gave isn't something that has happened nor really could happen. However, it is a good simplified example of how evolution works. You can read more about real evolution from here. After all, why would you take my word for it? I'm just a guy named rug, but that is what I think.