Sunday, 24 October 2010

Diversity of Species - I finally understood to bits

I support the concept of Evolution. I don't agree with Creation. So I guess I am an Evolutionist, not Creationist, so to speak.

Evolution is remarkable. If one understand it to bits I mean. One might study biology, agrees with Darwin's idea; but it does not mean he or she understood evolution, or the diversity of species for that matter.

Diversity of species is one of the key question that evolutionist and creationist disagree always. Creationist 'want' everything 'been' created. Evolutionist, in the other hand, always suggests that there is origin of everything.

I know that it is so hard to understand why the diversity. Why there are differences between every species. It is difficult to accept that bird and elephant was descended  one form of species very long time ago. It is very hard to accept everything because what wee see is differences.

Well the best way to understand the diversity of species is not to ask the question 'how two different species be similar', but to ask 'how two similar species be so different'. Shifting one's point of view is always the hardest thing to do.

Although explaining why there is diversity in species is lengthy, I shall bring the focus of discussion to the element that creationist always forgot to take into consideration, which is time, and the magnitude of time itself.

Time magnitude of time is the key component of why there is such diversity. Scientists found that genes of all species are relatively similar in some sense. Human genes are only 1% different from Chimps, and a few percent different from fish. Suppose a fish lives in an aquatic region, thriving. Like always, offspring and their parents a different in look and features. Some features are from the female and some are from the male. Imagine for a bit that in many offspring, there is some random mutation of genes, thus that offspring has one different feature and that feature did not came from either of the parent. If that feature gives an advantage to that offspring, it will be good. If that feature gives disadvantage to the offspring, the bad news. Imagine for a bit that there is predator to this species of fish. Lets imagine that the new feature that the offspring has due to that random mutation of genes is that the colour of the skin become dark, while the parents are bright. And this darkening of skin gives an advantage of the offspring to camouflage and gets undetected by the predator. If this offspring can survive until it gets to the cycle of reproduction, the new feature will be propagated through  his generation, the dark skin generation of fish. Thus, there will be two generations of fish, of similar species but of different features. This differences will be noticeable only after a magnitude of time and it is often large magnitude. It takes generations to propagate the new features. One mutation may causes the fish to be able to get oxygen from air. Some mutation may cause the fish to have longer limb. For the fish, it is just happen to have that feature, no realisation of its advantage yet, until a moment comes where the new feature gives them advantage over the others. Since there is food chain in all species, every features developed can have remarkable impact on the survival or destruction of that species. Thus Darwin recognises that only the fit survives, and it is natural selection.

It just happened that for many-many magnitude of time, new features came about due to mutation of genes once in a while, until it gets to ancestor of human and chimpanzee. Along the way, the genes of their ancestor mutated and thus came along human like figure, and another mutation causes chimp like figure. Chimp so adapted to their environment, and human also so adapted to their environment. Thus even they are similar, they look different, just because of that 1% difference in genes. The 1% accounts for genes that are turned on in human but not in chimps or vice versa.

Imagine, for every species with new features adapted to its environment. If the species' genes mutate again, whole new generation will be created, which probably look alike but somehow different. And after many-many generations, it is common sense to think that the parent should be so different in look and features compared to the species many-many generations after.

Magnitude of time that one should think of is not in years, in tens of years but in millions of years. This mutation is so commonplace in species that has short life span but not in species with longer life span. One good example is the virus and bacteria that causes illness to human species. The more we use anti-bacteria, the more the bacteria mutates and resistant to the anti-bacteria.

There is no explanation of species being 'created'. I have not heard any reasonable explanation. It is only 'explained' by 'having faith' that species are 'created'. That is not an explanation. That is a Conjecture.

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