I enjoy your web site. I thought that maybe the following would be of interest to you. Please let me know your opinion.
Planned Evolution?
by Bahman Shahzadi
I have been discussing a point in the area of evolution and God with many individuals with generally positive reactions. What is your opinion? Here is a summary:
What some scientists believe, and is not shared by everyone, is the assertion that the evolution of life has been a random process, i.e. no design, plan, or direction was involved. This is the point which is going to be challenged here; reinforcing the notion that in fact, the evolution of life may not have been all that random, but to some extent planned.
Many factors have been cited as distinguishing humans from other animals such as physiological complexity (especially of the brain), intelligence, the talent for toolmaking, ability to communicate, intellectual power and creativity, consciousness, cultural evolution, rational powers, freedom of choice, forming abstract ideas, and so on. Obviously these factors, and others like them, more or less overlap and there is no need here to discuss their relative merit or importance. All we have to do is to select one factor, or any combination of factors, which we think indicates our distinction from other animals the most. For convenience let us call this selected factor, or the combination, the INDEX OF EVOLUTION.
Our observation is better illustrated in a diagram. In this diagram the horizontal axis shows TIME; present time is at the origin "o" and past is at the left. The vertical axis shows the INDEX OF EVOLUTION and, at present, the human species is at some point "a" which is the highest in our history. If we try to trace back the INDEX through our history for thousands (or millions) of years, we may obtain a curve like "A". It should be noted that it is not necessary to quantify the INDEX and the TIME axes since we are only interested in the relative positions of points and curves.
Next, assume that the species closest to us on the evolutionary scale, say chimpanzee, is at point " b" , considerably below "a", and has evolved along curve "B". All other species follow their own curves below "B" and at present fill out segment "ob".
Now, let us observe the diagram. What stands out is the fact that we humans, at present, occupy a single point at "a" far away from the more or less continuous segment "ob". This, by itself, is hardly a new observation. There have always been assertions of "uniqueness" and "superiority" about humans. The assertion here is that the evolution of life could not have been completely random because random evolutionary process, by definition, would have meant that the segment "oa" be fully occupied (according to the rules of normal distribution or the bell curve). In other words, if evolution were random, one would expect a lot of subhuman species occupying segment "ab". The alternative then is to conclude that evolution had some element of direction and planning, that it was meant for human species to evolve as it did quite apart from others, and that this was planned by, say, a higher intelligence or God.
There may be other explanations; if so, I would like to hear them.
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