Post by Yesenia Carrillo on May 14, 2015 19:28:34 GMT
1. Why is the theory of evolution so important in understanding how human beings behave?
The beginning of the DNA Consciousness book explains how DNA and genes affect the way a person is shaped out to be. The book talks about the parents and how the traits are physically passed down onto the offspring. Obviously this is a physical action that can be scientifically proven. It is the smallest of evolution actions. We are quite literally an evolution result from that of our parents.
Having said this, although most evolutionary traits can be scientifically proven, not all are agreed on among scientists. The evolution of the human mind, for example, as stated in video 5 (Darwin-Wallace Debate), is not agreed on. Wallace argued that natural selection wasn’t enough to explain consciousness. He believed that although our physical traits had been developed from early ancestors and followed all rules of evolution, that our consciousness had been created by something unexplained.
Most of our actions are a direct response of our thoughts. If we can understand why and how it is that we think, then we can understand why we behave. Understanding the theory of evolution will help us step back, look at the larger scale, and find concrete and scientific patterns that can help us fully understand why it is that we think-behave.
2. Which questions do you think evolutionary theory cannot answer?
Stating the obvious as mentioned before, the idea of consciousness is something that I feel evolution can’t fully explain. Although there are chemical reactions that are physically happening in the brain, our actual ideas and thoughts are difficult to measure. And how distinct each person’s mind works is also difficult to measure up. Science can only take you (at least for the time being) so far when trying to fully understand consciousness and beyond thought processes. The video Darwin’s DNA says, “science in other words, attempts to falsify what consciousness conjures up”. This is when explaining the difference between religion and science. However, how is it that consciousness conjures up these ideas in the first place? It is nearly impossible to measure it and science relies on being able to physically compare and measure theories.
Extra credit (in response to Alisia Spearman):
Alisia brings up the question that evolutionary theory cannot explain how the universe started. Although scientific fact has been proven on early days of the universe and its beginnings, it is safe to say that this continues to be a controversial topic between science and religion. Obviously religion holds the idea that the universe began when God began creating, but science argues back with the big bang theory. It’s a good question to bring up when thinking of evolutionary theory and what it can scientifically explain because evolution and creation of the universe go hand in hand and understanding one fully can be helpful in understanding the other one.
The beginning of the DNA Consciousness book explains how DNA and genes affect the way a person is shaped out to be. The book talks about the parents and how the traits are physically passed down onto the offspring. Obviously this is a physical action that can be scientifically proven. It is the smallest of evolution actions. We are quite literally an evolution result from that of our parents.
Having said this, although most evolutionary traits can be scientifically proven, not all are agreed on among scientists. The evolution of the human mind, for example, as stated in video 5 (Darwin-Wallace Debate), is not agreed on. Wallace argued that natural selection wasn’t enough to explain consciousness. He believed that although our physical traits had been developed from early ancestors and followed all rules of evolution, that our consciousness had been created by something unexplained.
Most of our actions are a direct response of our thoughts. If we can understand why and how it is that we think, then we can understand why we behave. Understanding the theory of evolution will help us step back, look at the larger scale, and find concrete and scientific patterns that can help us fully understand why it is that we think-behave.
2. Which questions do you think evolutionary theory cannot answer?
Stating the obvious as mentioned before, the idea of consciousness is something that I feel evolution can’t fully explain. Although there are chemical reactions that are physically happening in the brain, our actual ideas and thoughts are difficult to measure. And how distinct each person’s mind works is also difficult to measure up. Science can only take you (at least for the time being) so far when trying to fully understand consciousness and beyond thought processes. The video Darwin’s DNA says, “science in other words, attempts to falsify what consciousness conjures up”. This is when explaining the difference between religion and science. However, how is it that consciousness conjures up these ideas in the first place? It is nearly impossible to measure it and science relies on being able to physically compare and measure theories.
Extra credit (in response to Alisia Spearman):
Alisia brings up the question that evolutionary theory cannot explain how the universe started. Although scientific fact has been proven on early days of the universe and its beginnings, it is safe to say that this continues to be a controversial topic between science and religion. Obviously religion holds the idea that the universe began when God began creating, but science argues back with the big bang theory. It’s a good question to bring up when thinking of evolutionary theory and what it can scientifically explain because evolution and creation of the universe go hand in hand and understanding one fully can be helpful in understanding the other one.
