Evolution: Everything that you might be wrong about it! [Part 01]
Evolution is one of the most misunderstood subjects in science, no doubt about it. It is also, this lack of understanding, even within the scientific community, that fuels creationist arguments or pointless deterministic discussions such as the meaning of a trait or the role of some animal one might dislike.
1) Theory of evolution
This is one of my favorites! This is one of the most misconceptions you’ll find! No, I’m not saying evolution is not a theory, I’m saying you probably don’t understand what Theory means! Yes! It is a theory, but is a THEORY anyways? First of all, you must understand the difference between an explanation and a hypothesis. Usually, non believers of evolution argument that it is only a “theory” when, not by the fault of their own, they mean “hypothesis”. A hypothesis is when you observe a phenomena and you create a possible explanation for that, but it is not proven, or it has not being put into test, or it is only an idea. For instance, take this example scenario: You and a friend are walking home in a dark street and you see two lights ahead, you suggest that it is a car coming in your direction and your friend suggests that it is, in fact, two motorcycles coming side-by-side. Well, these are hypothesis, you don’t know who is right, if any, until you can check the source of the light. In the case of Evolution, we say it is a theory, not a hypothesis, but why? A Theory is type of abstract generalization or a description of a certain phenomena. It gives norms, goals, predictive traits and standards to the subject of study. In its core, it explains how the observed phenomena works. A theory must be verifiable (meaning, it must be possible to test the theory and it must be possible to empirically supported (verified) of contradicted (Proven wrong) and ultimately, must be possible to be replaced due to empirical observations. So, Evolution is a description of the diversity in life with its many mechanisms such as biological and sexual selection, mutation, etc… It passed the “scientific tests and was never proven wrong” , not a hypothesis.
2) Evolution is about the origins of life or some species.
That is another misconception. No, evolution is not about studding how we, or any other species came to be. Evolution is about studding how life changes. How interactions appear and disappear through time. How changes appear and give origin to new species, how species disappear. How traits are selected or which ones. To think in evolution as how life is represented now is a common simplification that gives the wrong impression that nature worked its way to have things like they are now. Or that a bunch of different monkey species had to appear to give birth to the first humanoid ape. So, evolution is not about the END, but the journey!
3) There has to be a complex genetic variation to account for complex phenotype changes.
This is one of the most amazing things in genetics! Sometimes small changes lead to huge modifications. In fact, a huge part of molecular genetic evolution is copying the same gene multiple times and giving different functions for it. One example is the molecular structure of antibodies and a ever growing number of cell receptors and other molecules that share the same structure. Or even changing how a particular gene is expressed. If you come to think of it, every cell in our body has the overall same genome, but you have a huge number of different cell types and many different organs and structure! All because of HOW the genes are expressed. Remember, we are over 97% similar to chimpanzees and yet …
Conclusion: One thing that gets in the way of discussions involving evolution is the misunderstanding of basic concepts.