High speed evolution

This view, in one form or another, is held by many fundamentalists of many religions - including Christianity, Islam and Judaism.

Obviously it must be true because it says so in their holy books - the two different stories of creation in Genesis for example.

The myth of the creation myth

Many religious and non-religious people hotly debate creation stories - from Adam and Eve (along with the dinosaurs!) in the garden of Eden, to The Big Bang.

Every society has a creation myth - "where did it all come from?" seems a natural question.

In fact the question itself is nonsense.

Religious people use the word "creation" in a specific way. They talk about "creating" things - creating a cake, creating a new house, creating a baby etc.

The truth is, they use the word "creation" when they really mean "conversion". Creating a cake means converting the ingredients from one form into another. Creating a house means assembling a building from a set of components, creating a baby means converting an egg and a sperm into a human being.

The fact is, we never "create" anything - we merely convert one form of matter into another. Something never gets "created" out of nothing!

This is why arguments about the "creation" of the Universe are a waste of time - it was never "created" - it has always existed in one form or another - as matter or energy in time. Things just move about and get converted from one form of energy or matter into another.

So forget the concept of "creation" - there was no "beginning" and there will be no "end" - just a rearrangement of the atoms, sub-atomic particles and energy that make up the Universe.

Evolution is wrong

According to fundamentalists, evolution is a theory not a fact and the things on the Earth are exactly as their god made them.

They point to the so-called evidence for evolution, fossils, and claim that they were all laid down during the Great Flood - yes, even the fossils on the top of Everest were laid down in the flood. As yet they cannot explain what happened to all the water after the flood - Everest is 5.5 miles high!

Evolution is simple

Evolution describes a process whereby those individuals (animals or plants) best suited to their environment survive while others die out.

To this process of natural selection is added natural variation and random mutation. Animals and plants of one species are not clones of one another - they would not survive if they were. A single disease could wipe them out because there would be no variation to allow some individuals to survive.

Natural variation and random mutation create some individuals who are more likely to survive than others. Their genes are therefore passed on and favourable variations and mutations predominate in the species population.

It doesn't take millions of years

Why are doctors reluctant to prescribe the most powerful antibiotics? Firstly because they have been advised not to do so, and secondly because, over time (a very short time), the bacteria they are designed to destroy become resistant to the antibiotic - so drug companies are always searching for new ones.

The same has happened with almost everything that man has tried to attack with drugs or chemicals.

• Head lice have evolved to become resistant to permethrin
• Mosquitoes have evolved to become resistant to DDT, neurotoxins and larvicides
• Cotton pests, boll weevils and beet armyworms, have become resistant to chemical attack

The process is simple

• The chemicals kill off most pests.
• Those variations with natural resistance survive and breed
• Those mutations with natural resistance survive and breed
• Resistant genes are passed down from generation to generation.
• Those with resistance gradually become the majority in the species population
• Soon, the only type to survive is the type that is resistant to chemicals
• Another evolutionary step has been taken

The new, chemical resistant, pests may not look any different from the originals but they now thrive on the chemicals instead of being killed by them.

Raid-resistant flies?

In the summer of 2007 it was discovered that certain types of house fly no longer die after normal doses of Raid - several direct sprayings were necessary to kill them.

This observation is hearsay at the moment but has been reported by many households in Derbyshire. Could we be seeing the evolution of a Raid-resistant housefly?

But what about millions of years?

It takes only a few years for a bacterium or a pest to evolve to the point where it is resistant to chemical attack.

In the longer term we can see changes to the physical structure of animal species as they adapt to their environment The Peppered Moth changed its colouring from light to dark as it evolved to fit into an environmental background becoming increasing dark as a result of industrial pollution - mainly soot.

Just think how many changes will take place over hundreds, thousands, millions or even billions of years! Species change beyond all recognition - in fact, they evolve into different species altogether!

There are lots of books available on evolution, from the very simple to the very complex, and some of them contrast the ideas of evolution with those of fundamentalist religion. The books of Richard Dawkins are an excellent place to start for those interested in this area of science.

Please also see our article on "Does evolution kill off god?"

Some evolutionary wonders - chemical resistant pests!

Head louse	Head lice	Mosquito
Boll weevil	Army worm	Super-fly?