A Take on the Theory of Evolution

While often embattled with competing theories, there are aspects of evolution that can be considered self-sufficient, self-deducible, or even self-explanatory. Theory or not, there are irrefutable concepts and easily drawn conclusions owed to Darwinism, or 'survival of the fittest', as it is sometimes called. The fact that traceable fossil records exist with the expected chronology of adaptation is proof enough of concept, regardless if the timeline is complete or not. To doubt anthropological records in the case of humans, merely based on their incompleteness, is ignorant at best; however, that is not to say that ignorant people are always incorrect.

The cell is the basic unit of life. Every living organism on the planet is made up of at least a single cell. Evolution is readily observed in these simplest of creatures, due to their ability to reproduce and thus transverse generations at incredible speed. It is a well accepted fact that bacteria are able to complete the generational cycle in as few as twenty minutes. Also well accepted is the ability of bacteria to become resistant to antibiotics in a relatively short period of time - through evolution over many generations. Human evolution remains paradoxically inexplicable only due to the human condition; evolution is only manifested when viewed as a comparison over many generations, far longer than the life of a single man. Thusly, the illogic of ignorance remains the best-accepted explanation, unless one can relate the bacterium to the man.

If this can be done, then naturally the next level of assessment is interspecies relationships. One bacterium is related, physically in terms of features, abilities and behaviors, to another bacterium of a different species. They are in fact, genetically similar, or share segments of similar or even identical genetic material, because they have exchanged this material in some fashion. In addition to the extremely quick succession of generations in bacteria, they have an additional trick that accelerates the process of evolution - the ability to directly exchange genes between themselves. In a world that favors survival of the fittest, if such a concept can be visualized, exchanging traits between active living members of the same generation and passing these traits on to successive generations, this becomes a great asset to survival.

Which brings up the principal point - organisms that can adapt the fastest survive best. One can transpose this concept to other areas: the batter up, a fierce game of football, soldiers on the battlefield. In the end, the most prepared, best suited are victorious - or survive. If one believes that simple begets complex, then the logical assumption can be made that these primitive organisms, which predate more complex organisms, have tried the rules of life and emerged victorious.

If one pursues this philosophy further, that is to say that simple structure is required to produce complex structure, then we can deduce that the eukaryotic cell is merely an encasement of specialized relatives to the bacterium. A collection of these cells, in turn, is no more than a 'collection of collections', in a sense. Thus, complex life, such as that of trees, insects, and even humans, can be viewed as no more than a hierarchical order of simpler subunits.

Modern science can confirm this in the sense that not only do entire cells of complex organisms undergo reproduction, but so do their specialized subunits. Since this is true, diversity is exponentially expressed throughout an organism as complex as a human being, or even a tree for that matter. It is that very diversity that fuels evolution and the creation of new and specialized species.

In spite of all this knowledge of species generations, the proof is in the pudding, so to speak. Fossil records provide a dateable reference timeline of various creatures adapted to various known conditions of their time. Features such as sight, limbs for walking on land, and flight can be seen through a series of evolutionary pathways. It should also be noted that these features only respond to an environmental need, as flight has developed several times - in birds, insects, and even mammals, in the case of bats. In the case of some deep-water fishes, the sense of sight has become atrophied due to disuse and no longer being a necessary trait for survival. Likewise, vestiges of organs that serve purposes in other animals can still be found in humans, even though they are completely unnecessary, such as the appendix.

Lastly, interspecies similarities can be seen between completely unrelated creatures - such is the case between whales and humans. The pectoral fins of whales contain very similar, five-phalangied bony structures that are remarkable similar to the hands of man. Similarly, the lowly grasshopper has similar tissue differentiation to higher mammals. Cardiovascular, nervous, and muscular systems can be identified in each creature, reinforcing the concept of a single common ancestor. Yet, there exists sufficient - and substantial - dissimilarities between the organisms as to represent alternative evolutionary scenarios. This can be perceived as merely different approaches to the same environmental challenge, or can be accredited to solutions to different challenges altogether.

One thing that does seen to be clear, however, is that once a certain level of differentiation occurs, especially in the more complex multicellular organisms, that interspecies sharing of adapted traits becomes increasingly difficult. It would appear that the high degree specialization does have adverse consequences in the fact that it limits the sharing of generic information. Conversely, this can be viewed as the single largest contributor to the beautiful diversity of life that is the very nature of our planet.