¶ … evolution refers to the changes that occur over time in the heritable traits over consecutive biological populations due to natural selection (Ohno, 2013). Since its inception by Darwin, the theory of evolution has become the overarching and unquestionable scientific explanation for biological diversity on the planet. It has become so accepted by the scientific community that many scientists refer to evolution as a "fact" as opposed to an actual theory (see, Gould, 1983). This type of acceptance towards evolution often leads to surprising intolerance by the scientific community when evolutionary theory is criticized. Nonetheless, there are several aspects of the theory of evolution that call its validity into question. This paper will briefly explore two of these critiques.
First, nearly every conceptualization of evolution begins with the notion that life on the planet earth evolved as a result of a random forces that combined crucial elements/ingredients (Ohno, 2013). While many accept this notion, this proposition is actually problematic for the entire theory of evolution because there is no scientific evidence that a hodgepodge of chemicals and non-living compounds can be combined in any way, shape, or form to generate something that has life (Miller, Bada, & Lazeano, 2004). Even Stanley Miller, the architect of the famous Urey-Miller experiment where essential...
Nonetheless, in addition to experiments by Miller there have been experiments conducted under laboratory conditions that utilize computers to randomly combine chemical elements that produce chains of proteins resembling chains of RNA (see Szostak, Bartel, & Luisi, 2001). Thus, researchers suggest that one day they will be able to create life in a test tube, so to speak. However, these experiments require the manipulation of initial conditions by experimenters and do not truly represent random processes that are believed to contribute to the beginning of life as described by evolutionary theorists. In fact, even today if scientists were to take a living single -- celled animal, place it in a medium advantageous for survival, rupture its epithelium and thus…
