What Is the Scientific Model of Evolution?

Within the Creation and Evolution debate, many discussions turn chaotic because individuals do not understand the differences between the generic use of evolution, the scientific Theory of Evolution, and the philosophical beliefs of Evolutionism. Quite often (usually by accident but sometimes intentionally), these concepts are mixed togetherin various ways which produces logical fallacies, what is known as a ‘strawman argument’, or lengthy attempts to prove a fruitless point. By properly defining each of these terms, hopefully discussions can move forward and with more peace.

Evolution The word ‘evolution’ comes from the Latin word ‘evolutio’ which technically refers to the ‘unrolling of a scroll’. It is a term with a broad range of uses. Many things are said to evolve including the development of an idea, a product, a chemical reaction, or even mountains as they rise and erode. The first recorded use of evolution inregards to biology came with the description of an embryo’s development.

Theory of Evolution When people refer to evolution, most commonly they are thinking of the scientific study of biological evolution which is formally containedin the Theory of Evolution. The Theory of Evolution has been defined and described in many ways. One of the basic definitions is a change in allele frequencies in a gene pool through the generations. This can more simply be described as genetic variations that exist within a population over time. It can be summed up nicely in the phrase ‘descent with genetic modification’.

Charles Darwin wrote a book with the title ‘On the Origin of Species by Natural Selection’. This is often talked about as being the Theory ofEvolution … it is not. Instead, the book is primarily about Natural Selection which is just one process that produces evolutionary change. It was a method for life to evolve from a single common ancestor to the many species found through history and today. The modern Theory of Evolution, known as the Neo-Darwinian Synthesis or the Modern Evolutionary Synthesis, contains many more concepts than just natural selection. The most important addition is combining the process of natural selection to the mechanism of genetic inheritance. This mechanism helps to describe how evolution should take place. The modern concept also focuses on populations, rather than individuals, and includes the effects of genetic drift.

Over time, evolution has had different uses within science. Before Darwin’s time, evolution was used in conjunction with species transmutation which stated that species had a predetermined direction to move in. It sometimes went so far as to give evolution a purpose or goal to move towards. This idea has since been discarded. Evolution is now depicted as a tree moving in many directions at once. It no longer implies a purpose or a direction and the most recent species are not necessarily the best. The branches on this tree will include both failures and successes. The next step in evolution cannot be predicted.

This page is under construction. My apologies for any misspellings, repeated text, missing references, etc. Please visit again later for a more complete treatment of this topic.