Evolution? Creation? Does it matter?

 

 Introduction

Consider this, how will knowing for sure human beings were created or not change your life? If you are an atheist and you found out without any doubt that a “God” created us and that Heaven and Hell are real, how would that information change your life? If you are a theist, how would finding out that without a doubt there is no “God” and we were not created. That life just happens. How would either of those change who you are? In both cases you still need some type of currency to survive. You still have obligations and responsibilities that will not just go away. Perhaps you might change your hobbies or certain things you do in either case but overall, not much would change. So, does it matter one way or the other?

Napoleon once said, “One of the most common causes of failure is the habit of quitting when one is overtaken by temporary defeat”. Human beings have searched for a better understanding of how the genus homo (various species of humans) came into this life since the dawn of the human existence. Some believe in intelligent design, others believe in natural selection and there are numerous theories in between both ideas. Also taking into consideration the fine-tune argument and the teleological argument.

Evolution describes the origins of organisms on Earth, but could this same logic be applied to the rest of the Universe? The fine-tuning argument to be defined in the most simplistic form is; the Universe has been finely tuned for life to exist. The teleological argument is that of which that the Universe and all material inside of it was created for a reason. Or that the Universe was designed to be the way it is and everything has a reason and purposes in its inception.

Controversies

Although the idea of evolution is not debated in most cases, it still lacks complete insight to the human existence. Charles Darwin is not only the most notable person to explain evolution; he is the founder of the idea. Unlike religious supporters, scientists believe that, interpretation of factual evidence is the key to understanding how homo sapiens arrived on this planet. Not every theory on evolution is the same, but they all are complementary at the core.

Terrence McKenna was raised under a Christian regime, but he was not religious by the definition of the word. Psychonaut, lecturer, and writer are all facts to describe Terrence McKenna, but those are not what he is best known for. He is the founder of the evolutionary belief called, The Stoned Aped Theory. The idea is that Homo erectus to Homo sapian was attributed to having psilocybe cubensis introduced into its diet. Introducing a psychedelic into a primate’s diet causes certain physiological reactions that Terrence McKenna has based his theory on. The mushroom acts as a sexual stimulator, making it beneficial for evolution to occur, as it would result in greater genetic diversity in offspring. Psychedelics have also been known to dissolve the ego in humans before it ever gains a chance to grow to destructive proportions. This would be similar to the effect in Homo erectus.

Now, just because one idea is defective, that does not make the opposed idea any stronger. Although Terrence McKenna’s theory is very plausible, it has many gaps in the idea. For evolution to occur in Homo erectus to Homo Sapian, it would take at least a thousand years, and his theory simply just doesn’t fit into the time frame of humans on earth.

Transmutation of species due to natural selection or referred to as evolution, is an approach to human existence that Charles Darwin developed. Charles Darwin wrote a book called The Origin of Species, where he explains the process of natural selection and the theory of evolution. Natural selection is gradual natural process by which biological traits become either more or less common in population as a function of the effect of inherited traits on the differential reproductive success of organisms interacting with their environment. Thus explaining how everything on the planet has adjusted to different environments over the many years of Earth’s harsh climate changes. Many scientists believe that Charles Darwin’s research is the building blocks to unveiling the creation of life.

Charles Darwin has come the closest to explaining life on this planet but his information is also inaccurate. It is true that natural selection does occur in every living organism that surrounds us, but to attribute human evolution from a primate, however plausible it may seem, also does not fit the time frame of existence. Scientists are close to bridging the gap of time to when the dinosaurs died off to when genus homo (various species of humans) started to thrive.

Physicists and astrophysicists know more about life and particularly how life is created in the Universe than any other profession. It is through their research and experiments that we start to unlock ancient mysteries. There are still many majestic conundrums left to be unraveled; because those questions have not been answered does not mean the human race should give up and turn to radical subjective beliefs.

Problems with believing in a set Ideal

Accepting the fine-tuning argument and the teleological argument derive from subjective opinions about creation itself. Both arguments are neither objective nor rational and they both are misleading in terms of finding answers to that which we crave. Simply stating that we do not know how something is made should just be that. We are unaware and are not sure. Rationality, objectivity and logical thinking are what gave humanity their wings. And religion has always been a form of control. The Ten Commandments, when looked at objectively is a form of control. Most of the stories or advice given in the bible are “do this and not that”. Is that advice not authoritative in its nature?

The social-conflict approach to religion highlights how religion, as a phenomenon of human behavior, maintains social inequality by advancing a worldview that justifies oppression. Karl Marx’s critical approach demanded that action be taken to resolve social inequalities. Karl Marx viewed religion as a social control used to maintain the status quo in a given society. Karl Marx was a German philosopher and the father of the socialist idea. Many governments, when examined with an impartial eye, follow many of Karl Marx’s ideas and beliefs to controlling societies.

The majority of religions that believe in intelligent design are from the monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ as it appears in the Old and New Testaments. There are beliefs that are considered to be monotheistic Abrahamic Religions, which do not have the same teachings but have similar belief system; such as, Judaism, Catholicism, and various followings of Islam in the middle east that are different from the traditional preaching’s of Islam.

With that said, Christianity, one of the most popular religions in the world has a rough history. Without even discussing Constantine and how he forced Christianity on thousands in a convert or die manner; doesn’t most religions in the world push their believers to try and convert others to their religion? Why is religion pushed so hard if not for the controlling factors it has on its followers?

Such history as Christianity has been tossed up, mixed around and then thrown down mankind’s throat for many years. This religion has been based on a book that was written in Hebrew, which is a language that’s hard to translate into any other language and in certain cases impossible to translate word for word. It was also written thousands of years ago and has since been rewritten and has lost its original content due to subjective interpretation. There are also many different variations of the bible and stories that differ from one to the next, even just slightly. So, which bible is true or, which is more true when compared to the other? Wouldn’t that be a subjective opinion?

There is no evidence as for events in the bible to have actually happened. The greatest examples of this are the Ten Commandments. God himself on two stone tablets inscribed the Ten Commandments. What happened to those tablets? Geologists have found clay tablets from The Sumerian culture, which is the oldest documented civilization at six thousand years old. So, how can the oldest civilizations tablets survive time and the Ten Commandments, which were made by God, not survive?

There are numerous openings when discussing the bible and its stories. Creationists fill those gaps with this idea that one would simply just need to “believe” that these stories are true and in nature said to be honest encounters as to what happened all those years ago.  Perception, interpretation, and lack of the ability to accurately describe experiences would make for an impartial example for how and why those stories are illustrated they way they are.

Absence of neutrality

A hundred years ago, 1916, imagine trying to explain to those humans what the Internet is. Or the fact that Voyager 1, just recently traveled past Pluto, which is millions of miles away from Earth, and it has taken many years of continuous travel just to get that far. Homininae species, which is supposed to be the type of humans to have existed around dinosaurs (some eight million years ago), did they believe they were created for a reason? Knowing that every day they had to fight being eaten alive by what many would consider to be monsters. They also had to fight disease everyday. Imagine going back in time and asking those humans to describe some of their life experiences. How would they define their reality when having a small vocabulary and not having the examples as to what they have seen?

During the Medieval time period, humans who were starving to death, murdered because they weren’t strong enough to fight off attackers, pushed to convert or die to a religious belief that they themselves did not understand, ETC, did they feel like they were created for a reason? Hereditary diseases, autism, Intellectual development disability (mental retardation), cancer, ETC, why were these created? What’s the reason for a baby to be born with AIDS? What purpose or lesson is there to learn from that?

The strange, and the unknowns

So what made this Universe? Didn’t there have to be something that was behind the curtain maintaining continuity with the order of things? Just because humans have not found answers to everything yet, does not mean we will never find them out. The primitive human brain can’t comprehend how vast this Universe is. And humans, however intelligent we think we are, we have only become this intelligent through science and technology in the last hundred years. The amount of possibility of what we can potentially figure out in the next hundred years, or even the next three hundred years is amazingly large. Also considering, dolphins and whales are said to be more intelligent than humans. Just in a different way.

Life on this planet is the way it is for many reasons. The three reasons that are most important when comparing life outside of this planet are; carbon based life, Earth gravity and Earth inside the Goldilocks zone.

Planets to be in the Goldilocks zone are what scientists look for when they search for life. It is when a planet is not too close to their sun, and not too far away either, so that the planet can form liquid. If that planet is in that zone, then scientists claim that, that planet can house life. Maybe not life like on Earth, because gravity greatly shapes the distention and characteristics of that life. But it could plausibly house some type life. We base our opinions of life on life on Earth. Which is carbon based. Now, other life in the Universe may not be carbon based. With that said, there are more planets in that Goldilocks zone, just in our galaxy, than there are specs of sand on this entire planet. There are an estimated one hundred billion galaxies in the universe. The possibility of life existing just on this planet to be put in a percentage is ridiculously small.

According to the periodic table of elements, columns of elements have the same configuration of electrons on their outer shell. That means they combine with the same other elements. Every way you can make a molecule with carbon, you can make with silicon. Carbon monoxide, you can make silicon monoxide ETC. Wherever you find carbon in the human body, essentially you can swap in a silicon atom for it. In principal you can make life based on silicon. It would absolutely not be the same type of life found on Earth, but still is a rather close example of life on a different planet in general. All life on Earth is carbon based, on a different planet; there could be all silicon-based life. And silicon is abundant, just not as abundant as carbon. When looking for life as close to our life as possible, based on our physics, silicon based life is plausible. Imagine if that silicon life would ponder if they were created for a reason. Also considering gravity to be a major role on how life is formed and the characteristics of that life.

Is there more than one universe? The multiverse theory is interesting in terms that we can only hypothesize as to if there are multi universes or not. A hypothesis is an educated guess. In general relativity, black holes are regions of space-time from which massive amount gravity prevents anything, including light, from escaping.  White holes are hypothetical regions of space-time, which cannot be entered from the outside, although matter and light can escape from it. In this sense, it is the reverse of a black hole. Scientists are still unaware as to where black holes lead and where the origins of white holes are. Black holes and white holes could be the keys to deciphering the multiverse theory.

Physicists and astrophysicists are consistently encountering situations that they do not fully understand. They don’t stop when they run into a wall and make some type excuse to get them out of trying to climb that wall. Their adventures continue through science and eventually through the advancement of technology so that they eventually solve those riddles and they find their way over that wall.

Advocating that the fine-tune argument and the teleological are answers are exactly those cop-outs! Understanding why we feel the ways we do and why we subscribe to the ideas and beliefs that we do, are an absolute necessity for advancing our own intelligence.

Humans have not found the reasoning to certain theories yet, and that leads some humans to essentially give up. When those humans give up, they turn to a completely radical idea that leaves an incredible amount of openings. The greatest of scientists do not let that temporary defeat overcome them. Just because we have not climbed certain walls, does not mean we will never know what’s on the other side.

Conclusion

Not finding reasons to certain inquires yet, does not strengthen another argument. Could there be a reason as to why life in general was created? Sure, one would have to be incredibly naïve not to even consider other options for existence. But, we are not the only life forms living on this Earth, or even to have existed on this giant organic spaceship hurling through the massive emptiness we call space.

To subscribe to the fine-tuning argument or the teleological argument, is to give up on human ingenuity. Human ingenuity brought us science and in turn we have continually advanced our technology in a way to help us understand our reality. Through science and technology, not only have we created treatments for hereditary diseases, mild cases of autism, Intellectual development disability (mental retardation), most cases of cancer, ETC, but we also search the answers that we crave. Perhaps we won’t find those answers in our lifetime, but one day, through human ingenuity, they will be answered. That said, those who are theists and believe in some form of a “God” who created us, they are not necessarily wrong. Again, to not even consider that to be an option is naïve and close minded. Question your reality and learn as many different perceptives as you can to help better your understanding. Would knowing for sure one way or another change who you are? If so, ask yourself in what way? Accept that you could be wrong in your belief system. In which case, do not waste your life following anything blindly. So, does it matter one way or the other? The Earth is NOT flat! – Z