Is natural selection the solution to evolution?

[Brick Gold]

Natural selection is an integral part of evolution.

 

[Toddsterpatriot]

The idea that humans evolved from monkeys to humans falls on it’s face when these very same monkeys are still swinging from the trees today.

Humans didn't evolve from the monkeys still swinging from the trees today.

 

[dblack]

Is natural selection the solution to evolution?

I have been doing a review on how we and all the other creatures on this planet evolved and I have come to a surprising conclusion.

That's awesome! When it's been peer-reviewed and published post a link. I'd love to learn about your discoveries.

 

[ding]

Is natural selection the solution to evolution?

I have been doing a review on how we and all the other creatures on this planet evolved and I have come to a surprising conclusion.

The current accepted theory is natural selection. The originator of this theory was Charles Darwine.

Charles Darwin (1809-1882) and Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913) are jointly credited with coming up with the theory of evolution by natural selection, having co-published on it in 1858. Darwin has generally overshadowed Wallace since the publication of On the Origin of Species in 1859, however.

Natural selection is a mechanism of evolution. Organisms that are more adapted to their environment are more likely to survive and pass on the genes that aided their success. This process causes species to change and diverge over time.
What is natural selection?

natural selection, process that results in the adaptation of an organism to its environment by means of selectively reproducing changes in its genotype, or genetic constitution.
natural selection | Definition & Processes

This theory is simple and easy to accept and even taught in our public schools and yet I believe it is flawed.
View attachment 594309

The idea that humans evolved from monkeys to humans falls on it’s face when these very same monkeys are still swinging from the trees today. The only way to accept this theory is to believe a mutation occurred and this mutation evolved into the humans of today. To accept this defies the idea of “natural selection”.

Setting aside natural selection and looking for alternatives I looked at the basic building blocks of all living things on this planet, DNA.

What is DNA?
DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, is the hereditary material in humans and almost all other organisms. Nearly every cell in a person’s body has the same DNA. Most DNA is located in the cell nucleus (where it is called nuclear DNA), but a small amount of DNA can also be found in the mitochondria (where it is called mitochondrial DNA or mtDNA). Mitochondria are structures within cells that convert the energy from food into a form that cells can use.

The information in DNA is stored as a code made up of four chemical bases: adenine (A), guanine (G), cytosine (C), and thymine (T). Human DNA consists of about 3 billion bases, and more than 99 percent of those bases are the same in all people. The order, or sequence, of these bases determines the information available for building and maintaining an organism, similar to the way in which letters of the alphabet appear in a certain order to form words and sentences.

DNA bases pair up with each other, A with T and C with G, to form units called base pairs. Each base is also attached to a sugar molecule and a phosphate molecule. Together, a base, sugar, and phosphate are called a nucleotide. Nucleotides are arranged in two long strands that form a spiral called a double helix. The structure of the double helix is somewhat like a ladder, with the base pairs forming the ladder’s rungs and the sugar and phosphate molecules forming the vertical sidepieces of the ladder.

An important property of DNA is that it can replicate, or make copies of itself. Each strand of DNA in the double helix can serve as a pattern for duplicating the sequence of bases. This is critical when cells divide because each new cell needs to have an exact copy of the DNA present in the old cell.

View attachment 594308

To understand the above I had to accept the idea that such a structure developed from a planet that was nothing more that a large ball of molten rock that cooled down leaving a thin shell that is referred to as earth’s crust. From this crust DNA evolved. I find this hard to believe. Making it even harder to believe is the fact that DNA is just a small component from a much more complex structure called chromosomes.

A chromosome is a DNA molecule packaged into thread-like structures. Each chromosome is made up of DNA tightly coiled many times around proteins called histones that support its structure.

Chromosomes are not visible in the cell’s nucleus—not even under a microscope—when the cell is not dividing. However, the DNA that makes up chromosomes becomes more tightly packed during cell division and is then visible under a microscope. Most of what researchers know about chromosomes was learned by observing chromosomes during cell division.

Each chromosome has a constriction point called the centromere, which divides the chromosome into two sections, or “arms.” The short arm of the chromosome is labeled the “p arm.” The long arm of the chromosome is labeled the “q arm.” The location of the centromere on each chromosome gives the chromosome its characteristic shape, and can be used to help describe the location of specific genes.
What is a chromosome?: MedlinePlus Genetics

View attachment 594311



How can a structure as complex as a chromosome come from the earths crust? This question puzzled me until I looked a little further. The above structure did not come about by natural selection but rather purposefully selection. Humans are doing this today, calling it cloning.

Cloning is a technique scientists use to make exact genetic copies of living things. Genes, cells, tissues, and even whole animals can all be cloned. ... In humans, identical twins are similar to clones. They share almost the exact same genes. Identical twins are created when a fertilized egg splits in two.

Scientists also make clones in the lab. They often clone genes in order to study and better understand them. To clone a gene, researchers take DNA from a living creature and insert it into a carrier like bacteria or yeast. Every time that carrier reproduces, a new copy of the gene is made.

Animals are cloned in one of two ways. The first is alled embryo twinning. Scientists first split an embryo in half. Those two halves are then placed in a mother’s uterus. Each part of the embryo develops into a unique animal, and the two animals share the same genes. The second method is called somatic cell nuclear transfer. Somatic cells are all the cells that make up an organism, but that are not sperm or egg cells. Sperm and egg cells contain only one set of chromosomes, and when they join during fertilization, the mother’s chromosomes merge with the father’s. Somatic cells, on the other hand, already contain two full sets of chromosomes. To make a clone, scientists transfer the DNA from an animal’s somatic cell into an egg cell that has had its nucleus and DNA removed. The egg develops into an embryo that contains the same genes as the cell donor. Then the embryo is implanted into an adult female’s uterus to grow.

In 1996, Scottish scientists cloned the first animal, a sheep they named Dolly. She was cloned using an udder cell taken from an adult sheep. Since then, scientists have cloned cows, cats, deer, horses, and rabbits. They still have not cloned a human, though. In part, this is because it is difficult to produce a viable clone. In each attempt, there can be genetic mistakes that prevent the clone from surviving. It took scientists 276 attempts to get Dolly right. There are also ethical concerns about cloning a human being.
Cloning

To cap this all off I have concluded that the human race will use cloning to remove our acceptability to diseases. Humans will eliminate the flaws that cause us to age and even “select” our size, improving our seeing, hearing, and thinking ability. We will clone ourselves into the perfect human being capable of exploring the universe around us. This all did not come from natural selection. I believe the components that evolved into what we are today was deliberate, our planet was seeded by outsiders who have been watching our development from afar. Someday, maybe sooner rather than later “they” will make themselves known and then we will join them exploring the infinite universe around us.

That is unless we destroy ourselves first.

-​

What do you think--?

I think when it comes to speciation that punctuated equilibrium better fits the fossil record than natural selection does.

 

[Fort Fun Indiana]

Of course, punctuated equilibrium still relies on natural selection, so the above statement is a bit nonsensical.

Furthermore, nature and the fossil record show us instances of evolution at all speeds. So we don't have to choose between gradual evolution in species and punctuated equilibrium. Both occur. As the evidence shows.

 

[ding]

A year before their 1972 Eldredge and Gould paper, Niles Eldredge published a paper in the journal Evolution which suggested that gradual evolution was seldom seen in the fossil record and argued that Ernst Mayr's standard mechanism of allopatric speciation might suggest a possible resolution.

 

[Fort Fun Indiana]

Of course, as those who read up on this topic know, Gould later relented and adopted a modified idea of PE, whereby punctuated equilibrium arises when a population of a species becomes isolated and different selective forces operate on it from the parent population.

Furthermore, Gould's original ideas have generally been discarded, as those who keep up know:

The Most Popular Textbook Example of Punctuated Evolution Has Been Debunked by Researchers

Researchers at the University of Oslo have debunked a textbook example about how evolution proceeds during speciation. Renowned paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould fronted the old theory. Evolutionary biologists have for a long time disagreed on the rate of evolution when new species emerge. Are

scitechdaily.com

 

[ding]

Of course, as those who read up on this topic know, Gould later relented and adopted a modified idea of PE, whereby punctuated equilibrium arises when a population of a species becomes isolated and different selective forces operate on it from the parent population.

Furthermore, Gould's original ideas have generally been discarded, as those who keep up know:

The Most Popular Textbook Example of Punctuated Evolution Has Been Debunked by Researchers

Researchers at the University of Oslo have debunked a textbook example about how evolution proceeds during speciation. Renowned paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould fronted the old theory. Evolutionary biologists have for a long time disagreed on the rate of evolution when new species emerge. Are

scitechdaily.com

January 26, 2021

Evolution in the weak-mutation limit: Stasis periods punctuated by fast transitions between saddle points on the fitness landscape

The gradual character of evolution is a key feature of the Darwinian worldview. However, macroevolutionary events are often thought to occur in a nongradualist manner, in a regime known as punctuated equilibrium, whereby extended periods of evolutionary stasis are punctuated by rapid transitions...

www.pnas.org

 

[watchingfromafar]

I think when it comes to speciation that punctuated equilibrium better fits the fossil record than natural selection does.

My problem is not with natural selection but rather where did the original gene pool came from. Personally, I believe our planet was seeded by outsiders.
-

 

[Fort Fun Indiana]

My problem is not with natural selection but rather where did the original gene pool came from. Personally, I believe our planet was seeded by outsiders.
-

Then where did THEY and their "gene pool" come from?

 

[Seymour Flops]

My problem is not with natural selection but rather where did the original gene pool came from. Personally, I believe our planet was seeded by outsiders.
-

Hey!

So does Richard Dawkins.

 

[Fort Fun Indiana]

Hey!

So does Richard Dawkins.

100% wrong. Stop lying.

 

[Dagosa]

Is natural selection the solution to evolution?

I have been doing a review on how we and all the other creatures on this planet evolved and I have come to a surprising conclusion.

The current accepted theory is natural selection. The originator of this theory was Charles Darwine.

Charles Darwin (1809-1882) and Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913) are jointly credited with coming up with the theory of evolution by natural selection, having co-published on it in 1858. Darwin has generally overshadowed Wallace since the publication of On the Origin of Species in 1859, however.

Natural selection is a mechanism of evolution. Organisms that are more adapted to their environment are more likely to survive and pass on the genes that aided their success. This process causes species to change and diverge over time.
What is natural selection?

natural selection, process that results in the adaptation of an organism to its environment by means of selectively reproducing changes in its genotype, or genetic constitution.
natural selection | Definition & Processes

This theory is simple and easy to accept and even taught in our public schools and yet I believe it is flawed.
View attachment 594309

The idea that humans evolved from monkeys to humans falls on it’s face when these very same monkeys are still swinging from the trees today. The only way to accept this theory is to believe a mutation occurred and this mutation evolved into the humans of today. To accept this defies the idea of “natural selection”.

Setting aside natural selection and looking for alternatives I looked at the basic building blocks of all living things on this planet, DNA.

What is DNA?
DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, is the hereditary material in humans and almost all other organisms. Nearly every cell in a person’s body has the same DNA. Most DNA is located in the cell nucleus (where it is called nuclear DNA), but a small amount of DNA can also be found in the mitochondria (where it is called mitochondrial DNA or mtDNA). Mitochondria are structures within cells that convert the energy from food into a form that cells can use.

The information in DNA is stored as a code made up of four chemical bases: adenine (A), guanine (G), cytosine (C), and thymine (T). Human DNA consists of about 3 billion bases, and more than 99 percent of those bases are the same in all people. The order, or sequence, of these bases determines the information available for building and maintaining an organism, similar to the way in which letters of the alphabet appear in a certain order to form words and sentences.

DNA bases pair up with each other, A with T and C with G, to form units called base pairs. Each base is also attached to a sugar molecule and a phosphate molecule. Together, a base, sugar, and phosphate are called a nucleotide. Nucleotides are arranged in two long strands that form a spiral called a double helix. The structure of the double helix is somewhat like a ladder, with the base pairs forming the ladder’s rungs and the sugar and phosphate molecules forming the vertical sidepieces of the ladder.

An important property of DNA is that it can replicate, or make copies of itself. Each strand of DNA in the double helix can serve as a pattern for duplicating the sequence of bases. This is critical when cells divide because each new cell needs to have an exact copy of the DNA present in the old cell.

View attachment 594308

To understand the above I had to accept the idea that such a structure developed from a planet that was nothing more that a large ball of molten rock that cooled down leaving a thin shell that is referred to as earth’s crust. From this crust DNA evolved. I find this hard to believe. Making it even harder to believe is the fact that DNA is just a small component from a much more complex structure called chromosomes.

A chromosome is a DNA molecule packaged into thread-like structures. Each chromosome is made up of DNA tightly coiled many times around proteins called histones that support its structure.

Chromosomes are not visible in the cell’s nucleus—not even under a microscope—when the cell is not dividing. However, the DNA that makes up chromosomes becomes more tightly packed during cell division and is then visible under a microscope. Most of what researchers know about chromosomes was learned by observing chromosomes during cell division.

Each chromosome has a constriction point called the centromere, which divides the chromosome into two sections, or “arms.” The short arm of the chromosome is labeled the “p arm.” The long arm of the chromosome is labeled the “q arm.” The location of the centromere on each chromosome gives the chromosome its characteristic shape, and can be used to help describe the location of specific genes.
What is a chromosome?: MedlinePlus Genetics

View attachment 594311



How can a structure as complex as a chromosome come from the earths crust? This question puzzled me until I looked a little further. The above structure did not come about by natural selection but rather purposefully selection. Humans are doing this today, calling it cloning.

Cloning is a technique scientists use to make exact genetic copies of living things. Genes, cells, tissues, and even whole animals can all be cloned. ... In humans, identical twins are similar to clones. They share almost the exact same genes. Identical twins are created when a fertilized egg splits in two.

Scientists also make clones in the lab. They often clone genes in order to study and better understand them. To clone a gene, researchers take DNA from a living creature and insert it into a carrier like bacteria or yeast. Every time that carrier reproduces, a new copy of the gene is made.

Animals are cloned in one of two ways. The first is alled embryo twinning. Scientists first split an embryo in half. Those two halves are then placed in a mother’s uterus. Each part of the embryo develops into a unique animal, and the two animals share the same genes. The second method is called somatic cell nuclear transfer. Somatic cells are all the cells that make up an organism, but that are not sperm or egg cells. Sperm and egg cells contain only one set of chromosomes, and when they join during fertilization, the mother’s chromosomes merge with the father’s. Somatic cells, on the other hand, already contain two full sets of chromosomes. To make a clone, scientists transfer the DNA from an animal’s somatic cell into an egg cell that has had its nucleus and DNA removed. The egg develops into an embryo that contains the same genes as the cell donor. Then the embryo is implanted into an adult female’s uterus to grow.

In 1996, Scottish scientists cloned the first animal, a sheep they named Dolly. She was cloned using an udder cell taken from an adult sheep. Since then, scientists have cloned cows, cats, deer, horses, and rabbits. They still have not cloned a human, though. In part, this is because it is difficult to produce a viable clone. In each attempt, there can be genetic mistakes that prevent the clone from surviving. It took scientists 276 attempts to get Dolly right. There are also ethical concerns about cloning a human being.
Cloning

To cap this all off I have concluded that the human race will use cloning to remove our acceptability to diseases. Humans will eliminate the flaws that cause us to age and even “select” our size, improving our seeing, hearing, and thinking ability. We will clone ourselves into the perfect human being capable of exploring the universe around us. This all did not come from natural selection. I believe the components that evolved into what we are today was deliberate, our planet was seeded by outsiders who have been watching our development from afar. Someday, maybe sooner rather than later “they” will make themselves known and then we will join them exploring the infinite universe around us.

That is unless we destroy ourselves first.

-​

What do you think--?

Never knew evolution needed a solution.

 

[dblack]

The idea that humans evolved from monkeys to humans falls on it’s face when these very same monkeys are still swinging from the trees today. The only way to accept this theory is to believe a mutation occurred and this mutation evolved into the humans of today. To accept this defies the idea of “natural selection”.

... What do you think--?

I think you're clueless when it comes to evolution, and your objections are specious as a result. Evolution doesn't say humans evolved from the same monkeys that are still swinging from the trees today. I didn't read the rest of the post. Garbage in, garbage out.

 

[watchingfromafar]

I didn't read the rest of the post. Garbage in, garbage out.

dito -

 

[Fort Fun Indiana]

dito -

You appear to know very little about evolution.

That's fine. Ignorance is not a sin. We are all ignorant of a great many things.

However, if a rational adult takes interest in a topic, I feel it is fair to expect that person to go learn a little bit about it before commenting on it, and especially before making declarations about the truth or untruth of it.

Else you see what has happened here: Instead of discussing the topic with you, everyone is forced to spend their time correcting your unwitting falsehoods.

That alone should be a strong clue to you that you need to read up on this topic more.

 

[watchingfromafar]

Is natural selection the solution to evolution?

I agree that natural selection is the force that allows a species to adapt to ever changing conditions.

This does not explain, nor should it be required to explain the ancestral history of-

Fort Fun Indiana, please explain the "evolution" of insects?

Insects

-​

 

[Fort Fun Indiana]

Is natural selection the solution to evolution?

I agree that natural selection is the force that allows a species to adapt to ever changing conditions.

This does not explain, nor should it be required to explain the ancestral history of-

View attachment 609730 View attachment 609731 View attachment 609732 View attachment 609733

Fort Fun Indiana, please explain the "evolution" of insects?

Insects

-​

Sorry, I don't do troll exercises.

If you were honestly interested in the evolution of insects, you would go see what scientists say, instead of begging for attention on a message board of nonscientists.

Spoiler alert: yes, it's natural selection. What else? Magic? Supernatural selection?

There are several mechanisms of evolution. 5 major ones. They all operate, all the time.

 

[watchingfromafar]

Evolution doesn't say humans evolved from the same monkeys that are still swinging from the trees today.

human evolution | History, Stages, Timeline, Tree, Chart, & Facts
-

 

[Fort Fun Indiana]

View attachment 609738
human evolution | History, Stages, Timeline, Tree, Chart, & Facts
-

Humans did evolve from apes.

Also, they did evolve from monkeys. Apes arose from monkeys.