The Greatest Debate on Earth: Part 1 - Evolution

                The Greatest Debate on Earth can be none other than the incessant question of whether God is real or not. Have we been placing our faith in a non-existent entity? Or is there actually such a sentient being out there, controlling our every move?

Part 1: Evolution

                Until the 19^th Century, all people were highly religious, believing in the existence of the all powerful figure we all know as God. Life was considered to be made all at once 10,000 years before. Not a soul challenged this belief, and it was the perfect atmosphere for a rebellious man to rise.

                A Frenchman, Jean-Baptiste Lamarck was the first “rebellious” man to ever question the existence of such an all-powerful being. It was he who introduced the idea of adapting to changes in the environment, that is, natural selection. He also put forward the theory of inheritance of acquired characteristics. This was the major flaw in his theory of evolution. He believed that if a dog’s ear was cut off, its offspring would have cut ears at birth. He is credited with being the first scientist to propose the theory of evolution that would later be greatly influenced by the working of the famous (or infamous?) Charles Darwin.  

                Charles Darwin himself was greatly influenced by his model, Alexander von Humboldt, a brilliant man in his time. Despite finding many clues for evolution, Humboldt remained as devoted Christian and believed that God had created all life till his death. As a young boy, Charles Darwin was fascinated by the adventures of Humboldt, and his book On the Origin of Species was mainly based on Humboldt’s Personal Narrative of Travelling in the Equinoctial Regions of the New Continent, a book that Darwin was extremely fond of.

                Born to a rich doctor, it didn’t take long before Darwin realized that he had absolutely no interests in medicinal biology. He often skipped his classes at university and was the subject of many scoldings from his father, who believed that he was ruining the Darwin prestige. Instead of studying, he began collecting rare insects and comparing himself with experts at the job. When he finally received the opportunity to travel aboard the HMS Beagle, he was exhilarated; but this excitement was plagued by the fear that his father would not approve of such “adventures.” Surprisingly, though, his father supported him whole-heartedly and Darwin was sent on his first voyage into the wilderness.

                It was during this voyage that Charles first realized that the continents could be “drifting”, which led to the theory of “Continental Drift” (aptly named, I should say) that entirely revolutionized the idea of the Earth at that time. Another discovery of such unimaginable importance would be Magellan’s trip to prove that the Earth was round, after all. It was his theory of Continental Drift that eventually was solid proof for Evolution.

                Darwin discovered that several plants found in West Africa could also be found in East South America. In South Africa, he found similar plants to those in South America. As he continued travelling, he collected evidence in abundance to support his new theory. Questions began to form in his mind: Why were these similar? One was in the Western Hemisphere, the other in the Eastern. It could not be possible that the animals living in one travelled to the other….It was then that he realized that South America fit in perfectly with Africa. This later developed into the idea that a long time ago, there was a super-continent called Pangaea.

                Areas constantly associated with Charles Darwin are the famous Galapagos Islands. These islands were his favorite area in the world; the reason is quite obvious—he retrieved much of his evidence from these unique islands. For example, he discovered different varieties of the same species: on one island he found a certain type of hummingbird, on another one almost identical, yet slightly different.

                This also proved to be the main argument for all evolutionary biologists: Why would God make so many different varieties of the same species? Couldn’t one have been enough?               
Charles was married at that time to a very religious woman; so when he returned to England, he kept his findings and beliefs secret to everyone, especially his wife. When he finally published his book over 20 years later, it caused a tremendous outrage. The Church itself felt offended in a way that no others had done to it. Although Darwin, in the On the Origin of Species, had intentionally avoided the question of whether God exists or not, he occasionally hinted that he believed that He did not.

                Darwin was ridiculed in every field, even getting himself a cartoon that depicted a monkey with his head. It had always been considered that the humans were a “superior” race compared to all animals, so the idea of humans evolving from mere, primitive monkeys seemed as an insult to the “creation” of mankind. However, almost all the scientists supported Darwin, and the amount of “followers” increased dramatically. Today, more than 3 million people believe in evolution, and many others believe in God and evolution at the same time: that God does exist, but he did not make life. Still others aren’t sure what they believe. The number of religious followers remains larger by a fair margin, disbelieving evolution, and asking for proof.

                Among the most significant of these proofs is the “Pepper Moth Evolution.”

                During the Industrial Revolution in England, there was a special variety of moths, scientifically called Biston betularia f. yypica or Pepper Moths. They were named so as they had light colored wings with black pepper dots scattered all over them.  They were perfectly camouflaged against the light colored lichens and trees growing in Europe at that time. Another variety of the species was the Biston betularia f. carbonaria, another moth found in Europe but whose wings were entirely dark colored. As a result, the Carbonaria was much less successful in reproducing into successive generations as it was easier to spot against the light colored bark of the surrounding trees.

                During the Industrial Revolution, however, an incredible amount of carbon was released into the air. Upon absorbing this, the trees turned almost the same color as the chemical itself-black. Abruptly, the natural balance was inverted. The light peppered moths were easily visible and were hunted more often than their black counterparts, who were more successful in breeding. There was a burst in the population of these Carbonaria moths and they remain pre-dominant with highly successful generations to this day.

                This example is often not accepted by most creationists, citing that it is an example of “micro-evolution” and not “macro-evolution” (evolution on a mass scale) as evolution is supposed to be. Evolutionists, till date, have not responded to the demands of the creationists.

                A more recent example of micro-evolution would be the adaptation of crickets in Kauai, Hawaii. Crickets are known worldwide for their unique “chirping”, a noise that is created when their wings rub together. This chirping is used to attract mates by males. Generally, a mute cricket would die without reproducing. However, the case on Kauai is slightly unique.

                The offspring of the fly, Ormia Orchracea, are carnivores: they eat crickets. Identifying the victims by their unique chirping, these maggots track them down before killing and eating them. Mutant males, unable to create any chirping, began to reproduce successively as their non-mutant counterparts were being fed off by maggots. This resulted in the rapid decrease of the population of our “common” cricket and a surge in population for our satisfied mutants. Once again, however, the creationists claim this to be an example of micro-evolution rather than macro.

                Till date, scientists have not been able to refute the idea of creationism. Evolutionists and creationists are constantly at each other’s throats, only to find armor covering the bare skin beneath. It is only the matter of time before one of these two warring factions finds a flaw and plunders it, reducing the other to miserable fragments. I shall discuss the beliefs of the creationists in the next part of this essay.