Evolutionary Synthesis or Divine Intervention

We started the discussion on another thread about evolution....

As far as I can see it;
Darwin's theory is still largely believed by people, even those unaware that there are many missing links and holes in the theorum. Others are holding out for the evidence to become uncovered...

Most people are under the impression that there are examples in nature which prove that chance mutation and recombination can create new genes, which is not the case. The genes must be already in the gene pool, but not yet 'active'.
There are examples of genes that have mutated slightly in the course of evolution without losing their original functions.

The following is not my own, but food for thought:

According to the paradigm, evolution is driven by chance. Two processes, mutation and recombination, create new meaning in DNA by lucky accidents.
One problem with this story is that it is implausible. It is analogous to saying that a great work of literature such as Moby Dick could emerge from lesser preexisting books, if there were enough typos and swapping of paragraphs along the way. The trouble is, when this process is actually attempted with text, it never succeeds.
Only with guidance can random processes lead to meaningful sentences or paragraphs.

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I don't know what my opinion is on the subject, only that keeping an open mind is confusing, yet amusing. Science and Religion cause as many fights to each other as they do in the inside. To me, neither is right, as they refuse to listen to the other side....

having studied evolutionary psychology and nueropsychology im not too sure on the DNA side of things but i beleive that all life changes to adapt its environment...

Did you know that the first meat eating homosapiens actually became more "intelligent" as the fats and protiens enlarged their frontal and parietal lobes therefore enhancing their abilities at language, behaviour recognition and speech..

however nowaday diets are much more varied so these nutrient can come from other sources (but back in 20000000bc we didnt have sainsbury's )

i am a firm beleiver in evolution however i also thing that nature has a wonderful way of intervening...

so am a bit open to ideas...

no one knows for sure!

I think I'm the same really. I believe in science and what can be proven to an extend. I'm not a believer in religion, as there is no proof that any of it actually existed, except in the minds of the Author(s) !

Evolution is still happening, but whether it's going backward or forward is something that makes me wonder !

You say "still" Jess! It took a long time for Darwinism to be accepted by the scientific community. It's still not exclusively so... but getting there.


Would be interested in which paticular ones you're thinking of

Mutations do create new genes. This is the only way they can be AFAIK. Edit: unless you're referring to the difference between genes and alleles which most people don't understand.



What this person is missing is that the vast majority of mutations go un-noticed. They are either detrimental; in which case they are eliminated from the population, beneficial; in which case they increase in the population or neither beneficial nor detrimental; in which case they usually remain at a low level.

The vast majority of muations are though to be neither one nor other and as they all occur purely at random, and at a very low incidence, the evolutionary process is very, very slow.

It's the occurrence of mutations coincidentlly in the niche where they happen to be most needed that determines there benefit.... for example the lactase persistence in the early Europeans.

Species in most cases evolve very slowly, but one thing that does fast forward the process is domestication and here I could use the analogy of the above writer and say that the Border Collie, a breed highly specialised at his job, is like his Moby Dick in that it has been created from the raw material of the wolf.

Australopithecus - Archaeopteryx

Stephen Jay Gould, a professor at Harvard University and one of the foremost authorities on evolution in the world said, "The extreme rarity of transitional forms (missing links) in the fossil record persists as the trade secret of paleontologists,...we view our data as so bad that we never see the very process we profess to study". Natural History, Vol. 86.

In Darwin's theory, the changes were so slow and gradual that science cannot observe the evolution. The new theory says the change takes place so quickly it that too cannot be observed.

There is a also an argument for certain organic structures that are too intricate to have evolved on their own, and if they did, as Darwin asked 'why are we not seeing it now, why is nature perfect now, and not in a state of confusion, waiting for the next mutation to make it better' (or something along those lines, I forget now).

I believe in creation, intelligent design needs a designer.

And it’s wrong to think that all scientific minds believe in evolution. For example, British astronomer Sir Fred Hoyle said “Rather than accept the fantastically small probability of life having arisen through the blind forces of nature, it seems better to suppose that the origin of life was a deliberate intellectual act.”

so where is this designer? what else has he designed? there is no proof either for this or against it thats what makes me beleive that it could be anything!

God everytime. Humans rely on visual proof for absolutely everything before they will believe it. I never understood this, since we have five senses. Anyway, this is a deep topic, much too deep for me to go into but if anyone can explain to me how it all began, and I'm talking about the very beginning, I would listen. Until that time, I'm sticking with God.

can i ask why you are sure its god? im not arguing as i beleive it could be either but what makes you so sure?

Some people believe in the big bang theory and other theories but I believe that it was God that created the world(s). I guess it all boils down to my belief and faith. It's hard for me to explain why I believe it was God that created this existence but I struggle to understand how science could have done it. It's one or the other I guess and for me, science just doesn't cut it.