There is an ongoing debate about the two main theories that explain the diversity of life on Earth and its origins: evolution and creationism, each of which offers a different way of understanding the origin and evolution of life.
From the moment life first appeared on Earth, the planet has been home to countless species of organisms. From the moment life first appeared, the planet has been in a constant state of change and evolution. From the earliest single-celled organisms to the complex and diverse organisms of today, life has constantly adapted to its environment. Throughout this process, life has survived and thrived according to the laws of nature, resulting in the complex ecosystems that make up our planet today.
Humans have become interested in the variety of organisms that coexist with each other, observing them in detail and categorizing them according to their morphology, physiology, and genetics, or viewing them as a group. The study of living things has played an important role in our understanding of nature and our place in it. Through scientific inquiry, humans have built a classification system for living things and tried to understand the origins and development of each species.
This research has led to the definition of the concept of species and the creation of a number of criteria for classification, but it has also led to taxonomic problems such as the emergence of new species that do not fit into existing classifications and the creation of hybrids. The question of how life evolved into so many different forms naturally led to questions about the origin of life. In the course of studying these issues, the question of how so many different organisms came to exist on a single living world, and what is life, began to arise.
The question of the origin of life has long piqued humanity’s intellectual curiosity. Various theories of the origin of life have emerged as scholars have tried to answer the question. Theories about the origin of life can be broadly categorized into evolution and creationism. Evolutionary theory states that organisms were created by nature over a long period of time, starting from inanimate matter and slowly evolving from simple to complex and ordered. Creationism, on the other hand, explains that organisms were designed from the beginning by a supernatural designer to have different forms and functions. These two theories offer radically different perspectives on the origin of life, and their proponents continue to conduct research to support their claims.
To this day, researchers from each theory continue to study evidence to support their theories, or to find errors in the other theory and deny its claims. This keeps the debate about the origin of life alive. Let’s take a look at one of the two theories, evolution.
The theory of evolution explains that life arose from non-living matter by chance and over time, gaining form and function, moving from simple, lower organisms to complex, higher organisms, resulting in the diversity of life on Earth. Because it is difficult to observe or prove that organisms evolved, evolutionary theory first accepts that they did, and then explains how and why they evolved. Through this process of evolution, living things have adapted to different environments and developed into various forms.
Lamarck was the first to systematize the theory of evolution. He proposed the theory of descent, which states that as an organism lives, the parts that are used develop and the parts that are not used degenerate and disappear, and the developed parts, or acquired traits, are passed on to the next generation. He believed that species evolve by descent and new species are born. The giraffe’s ancestors did not have long necks, but as they used their necks to pick leaves from tall trees, their necks grew longer, and the acquired traits were passed on to the next generation, resulting in the long necks of giraffes today. However, Lamarck’s theory was not widely accepted at the time, as creationism prevailed. Current research has shown that acquired traits are not inherited, so Lamarck’s theory has been rejected by modern evolutionary theory.
In 1831, Charles Darwin traveled aboard the Beagle to explore the South Pacific islands of South America, collecting data to support his theory of evolution. Darwin observed that tortoises on the Galapagos islands had evolved to adapt to the different island environments due to the strong currents that kept them apart. He also observed that the beaks of various finches had evolved to adapt to the food available on the islands. He published The Origin of Species and argued for the theory of natural selection. The theory of natural selection is the most prominent argument in evolutionary theory and has been influential in the development of other theories of evolution. The theory of natural selection states that individuals overproduce, and through competition for survival, only those that are fit for the environment survive (survival of the fittest). According to this theory, competition occurs, and natural selection favors those with the best characteristics for the environment. In this process, organisms have evolved to adapt to changes in their environment, and these adaptations have increased biodiversity. However, Darwin did not explain why there is variation among individuals.
Subsequent researchers have sought to complement and expand upon Darwin’s theory. De Vries used his experiments with evening primroses to propose the theory of mutation. Mutation is when a trait in an organism suddenly changes into a different trait, which is then inherited. However, it was pointed out that mutations are often recessive. This issue has since been examined by researchers in a variety of ways, with studies looking at how mutations and environmental factors interact to drive evolution. Wagner argued for geographic isolation and reproductive isolation. He argued that when organisms migrate to geographically distant places or become reproductively isolated, new species arise.
Modern evolutionary theory synthesizes many of these arguments based on Darwin’s theory of natural selection. It is a theory that brings together disciplines such as phylogenetics, genetics, ecology, taxonomy, and paleontology to link Darwin’s theory of natural selection with Mendel’s genetics, and is accepted by the majority of biologists today. In the process, evolutionary theory has become more sophisticated as different disciplinary approaches have been combined. However, a weakness of the theory is that in nature, mutations do not occur in favorable ways. This suggests that the process of evolution is not always positive or developmental, and shows the complexity and limitations of the theory.
The emergence of evolutionary theory was a double-edged sword. Darwin’s theory spurred the development of other evolutionary theories and paved the way for a scientific and rational approach to the origin and evolution of life, moving away from a religious approach (i.e., God created it). However, Darwin’s theory of natural selection, which states that there is always competition and only those who are fit for the environment survive, was used to justify the capitalist idea of acquiring capital through free competition, creating a social atmosphere that perpetuates competition. This resulted in a society in which only those who pursued and won the competition survived, while those who did not were eliminated. Leaders used Darwin’s theory of evolution to justify colonial policies, and it was further used to justify discrimination against people based on race, class, and social disadvantage. This has led to some people having a negative view of evolutionary theory.
Nevertheless, evolutionary theory remains an important area of study in the life sciences. Research on evolutionary theory is still ongoing, as is the debate between its proponents and detractors. These debates are an important part of the scientific quest to understand the nature of life and the origins of life, and they are essential in shaping the future direction of the life sciences. Evolution is not just a theory of the past; it is a living discipline that is constantly evolving with new research and discoveries.
