Chapter 35

Evolution: The Greatest Indisputably True Story Ever Told

So there you have it. I have given you ten simple examples of how the human body is badly designed. I could have chosen hundreds. If I had looked at the rest of nature, I could have chosen thousands. I’ve pointed out a few of the myriad ways in which ID is a political pressure group that gets science wrong.

But now I want to talk about beauty.

I want to point out that the human body is actually wonderful. It’s just that it’s wonderful in the weird, crazy way that evolved systems are wonderful, rather than being wonderful in the careful, mathematical way that designed systems are. There’s real beauty and utility here, but not pre-planned design.

I think that our bodies are beautiful the way they are, regardless of their imperfections.

But I also think that there is also real beauty in our ability to think, do research, and really understand the world we live in rather than just making up stories.

This capacity allows us to understand atoms and molecules that we can’t even see, and principles we can’t see that allow airplanes to fly, electrons we can’t see that light up electric light bulbs, and yes, evolution, which often takes eons to occur, so no one human being can see it working, but we understand it and we can make successful predictions based on it. So we know it’s there.

ID does not make predictions. Evolutionary theory does. The evolution of antibiotic-resistant bacteria can only be understood by evolutionary theory. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are now killing people we used to be able to cure.

I fear having public health officials who don’t believe in evolution.

Ecology—which is the interplay between different plants and animals and their environments—can only be understood if you understand evolution.

I fear having environmental policy made by people who don’t believe in evolution.

I realize that many people don’t like the fact that there are unanswered questions in evolution. However, there are unanswered questions in every scientific field. Modern physicists don’t know whether gravity is smooth and continuous, or comes in little particles. Yet we use modern physics every day to launch satellites, and they stay in orbit. Biblical physics couldn’t do that.

You don’t throw out an entire scientific field because there are a few unanswered questions. In fact, the whole point behind science is to investigate unanswered questions. That’s what research is all about. If there are no unanswered questions then there is no research. If there are no unanswered questions, then there is no hope for improvement. If there are no unanswered questions, then the world is a far duller place. Unanswered questions are why scientists go to work every morning. Awe and wonder are as much a part of science as they are a part of any religion.

I realize that many people dislike what they think are the implications of evolution. “If it’s all about eating and breeding and dying,” they wonder, “where do beauty and meaning and justice fit in? Where does purpose fit in?”

Where indeed? One answer is that they fit in where we decide to put them. If we human beings think that beauty and meaning and justice and purpose are important, then it is up to us to put them into our lives and into our world, rather than waiting for God to hand them to us on a silver platter.

I realize that other people may be afraid to accept evolution because they want to believe in the uniqueness of human beings. Fortunately, science tells us that we as a species are indeed unique. So is every other species. What’s more, it’s clear that we are not particularly favored by any god or gods, whatever our egos may tell us to the contrary. Does that mean that we’re worthless? Far from it. We can experience awe and wonder. We have an amazing ability to figure things out. We can make art and appreciate beauty. We can build cities yet appreciate wilderness. We can strive to be the best that we can be and to build the best society that we can build. We can require justice, in the firm knowledge that no one has any divine rights. And we can love each other and love this planet.

I realize that in writing this book, I may be preaching to the choir. However, our public discourse on evolution needs simple, straightforward arguments in order to counter the false claims made by proponents of ID. In other words, we need talking points. Ones that we can bring to our legislators, school boards, and politicians of all stripes. I have tried to provide talking points that anybody can use right here in this book.

So there are times when preaching to the choir is exactly the right thing to do. We need clarification, reassurance, and solid political-style arguments if we are going to defend evolution against pseudoscientists and political pressure groups. In fact, my main hope for this book is that I’ve given you, the choir, some great new songs to sing. And in all cases, keep in mind that evolution is the greatest indisputably true story ever told.

Figure 35.1 Our place in the galaxy.

Figure 35.2 A phylogeny of everything (phylogenetic tree).

Or, our place on the family tree.