Ameoba Morality

Posted on November 29, 2007

So I’ve written a fair bit on this blog about evolution, biology, sociability, and morality (1 2 3). It’s a favorite theme of mine both because of the fact that so many Theists argue that morality can’t exist without God and because I strongly believe that if you want to seriously study natural law the best place to look is nature. So when I found this article on altruism, evolution, and Amoebas I just had to post a link up to it here.

So – a challenge to the godheads who insist that religion is the only viable source of morality – explain to me how it is that single-celled amoebas are willing to sacrifice their lives for the good of the colony? Are there Amoeba missionaries teaching them Christ’s word? Is it hope of eternal reward in some slimy dung-filled afterlife way above the clouds motivating this ultimate act of selflessness? Or is it that evolution makes cooperation among social animals a highly successful group strategy?

Maybe that’s why the Christians are so opposed to the teaching of evolution: because a functional understanding of how the world actually works explains human emotions like love, compassion, selflessness, and other social impulses far better then the Bible ever could.

hunger, poverty, and population growth among digital bugs and humans

Posted on October 13, 2007

first off, check this out: http://www.betaruce.com/java/life/applet/

one of the most frustrating things about animals, humans included, is that their populations will pretty much always expand to the biggest size possible until they are restrained in some way. in nature (or, more accurately, that portion of nature which does not include humans) animal populations are restricted by access to food and predators. among human populations the big limiters are economics (ie access to food) and warfare (ie predators). funny how that works, ain’t it? Read more

The Evolution of Whales

Posted on September 29, 2007

For anyone who’s ever wondered how in the world land-dwelling creatures could have evolved into Whales or simply needed a good article to show to stubborn creationists showing exactly how Evolution occurs, this article is a gift: http://www.talkorigins.org/features/whales/

It traces the evolution of whales from land mammals step-by step through the fossil record and then gives parallel independent evidence leading to the same conclusions from genetics, biochemistry, and other fields.   This is a rock-solid irrefutable proof that evolution and speciation occur in nature.

Say it with me one more time folks, Evolution is not a theory, it is a fact.  The “theory” part of the phrase “theory of evolution” refers to ongoing debates about how it occurs, not if it occurs.  There is as much evidence for evolution as there is for gravity.  deal with it.