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Charles Darwin proposed the theory of evolution to explain the origin, diversity and complexity of life. Darwin theorised that simple life evolved into complex life through a series of small beneficial changes that accumulated over time. However, Darwin's premise is flawed because small evolutionary changes are not cumulative. Numerous small changes cannot explain the large changes necessary for new and more complex animals and plants.
According to scientists, the fossil record and radioactive dating prove that life appeared gradually over several hundred million years, and that life has existed for at least two billion years. This section of the site wishes to cast doubt on this conclusion, as there are discrepancies and inconsistencies in the theory of evolution. Life did not evolve from simple organisms, it was created.
Can evolution be observed today?
Darwin observed the variation that occurs from one generation to the next, and drew the conclusion that useful variations should help animals and plants survive and reproduce. He felt that thus the animals and plants would select advantageous variations and preserve them. Darwin called this process natural selection.
Today, scientists theorise that this variation arises through random changes (called mutations) to existing genes. According to them, genes are the chemicals that determine the traits and characteristics of animals and plants. Every trait has one or more genes associated with it. Thus, natural selection selects the animals and plants with the best genes. Natural selection is not the only factor controlling which genes survive. Chance also plays a major role. This is known as genetic drift. The theory of evolution asserts that mutations, natural selection and genetic drift fully explain why and how simple life evolved into complex life. Natural selection and genetic drift do not explain the complexity of life.
Evolution is said to be the process by which the gene pool of a species changes with time. A species is a group of inter-breeding animals or plants. All of the genes in a species make up their gene pool. Evolution changes gene pools, and it creates new gene pools. The figure below shows how this happens. The first step is isolation. A group of inter-breeding animals cannot give rise to multiple groups since their gene pool is shared. Isolation splits a species into two or more independent populations. These populations do not inter-breed. Mutations in these populations create variation. Natural selection and genetic drift operate on this variation to change the gene pool. Some genes are preserved by chance, genetic drift. Beneficial genes are preserved by natural selection. Beneficial genes are the genes that are responsible for beneficial variation, the variation that helps animals and plants produce more offspring. Such variation is a selective advantage. The genes that are responsible for beneficial variation confer a selective advantage (sometimes called a competitive advantage) to the animals and plants in which they are found. It follows that natural selection only preserves genes that offer a selective advantage.