If you don’t believe in human evolution because you think there isn’t any evidence, you’re mistaken. You’re willfully ignorant. There are mountains of evidence and many books on the subject. All you have to do is look.

Now look.

Evidence of human evolution

Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History: Human Origins Initiative

evolution · Science · smithsonian

This map is so beautiful it nearly brings tears to my eyes. I discovered it in Richard Dawkins’ book, “The Greatest Show On Earth” (page 330).

The Hillis Plot

We’re cousins of chimpanzees. We’re also related to dolphins, kangaroos, slugs and pond scum. So what?

Darwin’s Theory of Evolution is brilliant beyond words. What’s truly amazing is that the concept took so long for us to figure out.

The Hillis Plot

Excerpt from the book:

Detailed DNA comparisons will fill in all the gaps in our knowledge about the actual evolutionary relatedness of every epecies to every other: we shall know, with complete certainty, the entire family tree of all living creatures. Goodness knows how we’ll plot it; it won’t fit on any practical-sized sheet of paper.

The largest-scale attempt in that direction so far has been made by a group associated with David Hillis, brother of Danny Hillis who pioneered one of the first supercomputers. The Hillis plot makes the tree diagram more compact by wrapping it around in a circle. You can’t see the gap, where the two ends almost meet, but it lies between the ‘bacteria’ and the ‘archaea’. … The Hillis circular plot is the same, except that it has three thousand species. Their names appear around the outside edge of the circle above, far too small to read — though Homo sapiens is helpfully marked ‘You are here’. You can get an idea of how sparse a sampling of the tree even this huge plot is when I tell you that the closest relatives of humans that it can fit in the circle are rats and mice. The mammals had to be stripped down drastically, in order to fit in all the other branches of the tree to the same depth. Just imagine trying to plot a similar tree with ten million species in stead of the three thousand included here. And ten million is not the most extravagant estimate of the number of surviving species.

darwin · evolution · family tree · hillis plot · richard dawkins

Helen Fisher tells us why we love + cheat
Ted Talks, February 2006

And I’ve also come to think that it’s one of three, basically different brain systems that evolved from mating and reproduction. One is the sex drive: the craving for sexual gratification. W.H. Auden called it an “intolerable neural itch,” and indeed, that’s what it is. It keeps bothering you a little bit, like being hungry. The second of these three brain systems is romantic love: that elation, obsession of early love. And the third brain system is attachment: that sense of calm and security you can feel for a long-term partner. (more…)

anti-depressant · cheat · drive · evolution · love · lust · marriage · psychology · sex · TED · ted talks

“Babies come from storks” is not a competing school of thought in medical school.

We shouldn’t teach both.

The media shouldn’t equate both.

~Bill Maher

bill maher · creationism · evolution · id · intelligent design · new rules · Science

advertisement · beer · commercial · evolution · guinness · humor · Science · video · youtube

Unfinished Business
The Economist, Feb 7th-13th 2009

Charles Darwin ranks among scientists right at the very top with Einstein and Newton. Acceptance of his theory is depressingly low. Especially in the United States. The idea is quite simple and obvious.

The idea of evolution by natural selection is not hard to grasp. It just requires connecting some uncontentious propositions. These are that organisms vary from one another, even within a species, and that new variation can arise from time to time; that some of this variation is passed from parent to offspring; and that more individuals are born than can exist in the available space (or be sustained by the available resources). The consequence is what Darwin described in his book as a “struggle for existence”. The weakest are eliminated in this struggle. The fit survive. The survivors pass on their traits to their offspring. Over enough time, this differential transmission of characters will lead to the formation of a new species.

I should say it is obvious now, after many years of exposure to the theory and the plethora of supporting evidence. Why then, is the theory of evolution rejected by so many?

(more…)

charles darwin · evolution · Science · the economist

Your Inner Fish: A Journey into the 3.5-Billion-Year History of the Human Body by Neil Shubin

This is an excellent book by paleontologist Neil Shubin. He talks about our evolutionary relationships with other species and how that ancestry effects us today. I enjoyed reading about our olfactory, skeletal, optic and hearing anatomy and physiology and how those systems evolved from primitive life forms. Shubin’s discussion of DNA and the fossil record were also enlightening.

Neil was part of the team that discovered  Tiktaalik on Ellesmere Island in northern Canada. If ever there were a transitional fossil (a silly notion), Tiktaalik is it.

This is an easy read (took me about two days). I kept wondering how young-earth creationists could explain the overwhelming evidence without evolution over geologic timescales.

I particularly like this quote from the Epilogue (pg. 200).

The unknown should not be a source of suspicion, fear, or retreat to superstition, but motivation to continue asking questions and seeking answers.

Ever wonder why you’re fat, have hemorrhoids, hiccup and get twitchy eyes when you drink too much alcohol? The answers to these puzzlements and more are in the pages of this book. Ever wonder why your cranial nerve is such a mixed-up mess? Me, neither. But the answer is here, too.

The discussion about our embryonic development is quite fascinating. Cells start dividing and folding and clumping together until, well, you’re you. What makes skin smooth and not bumpy? How do all those skin cells communicate with each other to orchestrate the great endeavor we call you? What binds cells together and what is between them? See, now you want to run out and get your own copy, huh?

anatomy · book review · evolution · physiology · Science

darwinday.org

Darwin Day is an international celebration of science and humanity held on or around February 12, the day that Charles Darwin was born on in 1809. Specifically, it celebrates the discoveries and life of Charles Darwin — the man who first described biological evolution via natural selection with scientific rigor. More generally, Darwin Day expresses gratitude for the enormous benefits that scientific knowledge, acquired through human curiosity and ingenuity, has contributed to the advancement of humanity.

The Darwin Day Celebration website provides resources and publicity for individuals and institutions across the world to celebrate science and humanity every year, on, or near, February 12, Darwin’s birthday. In addition to information about the life and legacy of Charles Darwin, this website provides practical examples, advice and templates for organizing and publicizing Darwin Day events. It also provides a directory of events where you can find celebrations taking place near you or register your own event for others to find

Recognizing science as an international language accessible to all individuals and societies, the Darwin Day Celebration provides a new global holiday that transcends separate nationalities and cultures. Darwin Day can be celebrated in many different ways: civic ceremonies with official proclamations, educational symposia, birthday parties, art shows, book discussions, lobby days, games, protests, and dinner parties. Organizers may include: academic societies, science organizations, freethought groups, religious congregations, libraries, museums, galleries, teachers and students, families and friends. In Darwin Day, we are able to recognize the diversity among us, while celebrating our common humanity and the universal understanding we share.

biology · darwin · darwin day · evolution · Science