The controversy that is evolution Essay Example for Free

The controversy that is evolution Essay I will be looking at the controversy that is evolution. The one side being we have evolved from primate to Neanderthal man to homo sapien. And the other from a religious creator point of view and the view of no proof of evolution. I shall start with the argument against evolution. The issue here is that faith is something which can not be proven thats why its called faith because you have to believe, compared to that which has not been proven (theory) (1). This articles argument is that until there is specific evidence and proof in some form of fossil or gradual progression and transition from one species to the next, evolution will remain an unproven, yet appealing, theory. Creationism in the Oxford English Dictionary (6) means the belief that the universe and living creatures were created by God in accordance with the account given in the Old Testament. Creationists will try and argue the case in favour of their belief when people comment on how the Earth is far older than 6000 years and therefore how could God have made it. They infer that the natural processes back then were a lot different to how they are today, such as radioactive decay occurred far more rapid thousands of years ago than it does today, making the earth seem older than it really is. (2). Whether or not decay did occur a lot faster back then is still to be discovered this is why theorist trying to prove evolution cant be sure about anything and nor can the creationists be sure about what happened. 45% of Americans agreed with the statement: God created human beings pretty much in their present form at one time within the last 10 000 years or so (3, page 499). They believe and stand on what they believe so much that it creationist materials have been published not only in English but in 13 other languages (3, page 500). They believe that the universe and earth was created 10,000 years ago, and that the earth was inundated by Noahs flood and that all living things were created by God to reproduce after the kind, thus setting limits on evolution. This article goes on (3, page 502) to talk about how Darwin didnt publish in detail all facts in his origin of species (4) which he regarded as a mere abstract of his planned yet never completed Natural Selection (5). Reasons for this are not known but makes you wonder why didnt he complete it and creationists use this in their favour against the idea of evolution. The arguments here are good, until proof is given when someone makes a theory it is not fact and so therefore can not be relied upon no matter how many assumptions and theories are put together. The bible has been translated more times and into more languages (more than 2,100 languages) than any other book, and it is the best selling book of all time, this fact makes it seem more than just a nice story and makes it easier to believe that it actually possiably true. However questions may be asked from the opposing side about the religious background to the creationism argument. The point being if your not religious your not going to believe in the creation story and therefore not going to believe God created everything so they will look for answers in nature and elsewhere and create theories to try and prove where we did come from. In these evolution scientist minds we did evolve from apes, and they will try and prove the creation story wrong and their theory right. I shall now go on to look at the arguments for the theory of evolution. Evolution in the oxford English dictionary (6) means the process by which different kinds of living organism are believed to have developed, especially by natural selection ; gradual development. Humans and chimpanzees share some 99% of DNA and amino acid identity (8, page 721). These figures are good numbers to look at and to try and prove we have evolved from chimps, and are convincing. However despite this high percent our morphological, biomedical and cognitive differences are significant. This is why creationists and other people find it hard to believe we have morphed from chimps into humans. There is also the fact that if we were once chimps and we evolved into humans, there are now still humans and still chimpanzees, why is there no in-between living proof about. Darwin argues that humans are only slightly remodelled chimpanzee-like apes, he based this on the asserted importance of numerous points of resemblance (8, page 727). Darwin missed the point, its not so much the points of similarity that makes the line of descent, it is more a few points of dissimilarity that breaks the lines, and makes a species different (8, page 728). Here we seem to have a point being made and then another point being made against that point, it makes a good article, but doesnt make a good argument for evolution when you prove what you just said wrong in a later paragraph. Natural selection meaning larger males mate with larger females which then reproduce to make larger offspring (9). However in the animal world you cant force animals to mate and you cant predict or guarantee who will either. The article goes against itself and talks about how there may be other reasons for taller people not just tall reproducing tall. Reasons such as better nutrition and standard of living and health care (10, page 257). There are also links to climate and stature due to living and adapting to similar conditions (10, page 278), however oddly the tallest and shortest populations ever recorded were Nuer 184.44cm and Mbuti 144.1cm which were both recorded in central Africa (7, page 672). So although Darwin and his natural selection may be true to some extent on the whole other factors play apart in the way we have changed over the years. More a change due to environmental conditions and better living standards which wouldnt explain the change from ape to human. Monkeys can be trained to walk bipedally rather than quadrupidally (11, page 739). This meaning we could have evolved to better suit ourselves, a kind of survival of the fittest. The bipedal walking after 2-3km per day, changes there skeletal system and existence of humanlike lumbar lordosis shows (7, page 740). The benefits of this bipedal walking means they expend less energy and can walk with longer less frequent sides so therefore have adapted to benefit themselves. The arguments here for evolution theory arent as strong as those for the creationist theory purely because of the facts that they are theories and havent been proven yet. One theorist says one thing and then another theorist says another, always contradicting each other. Until facts are made clearer and proof found the theory of evolution will go on. All the articles I have read have been convincing to there point of view, some more so than others. Some even seem to debate and out different ideas across in their own argument. The best arguments were those with the facts and figures and scientific drawings. Points which are reliable and not biased which are factual and true. References (1) Lipman. R, Creationism versus evolution, The Lancet, volume 360 (September), issue 9336, (2002), page 872. (2) Langen. T, what is right with teaching the controversy?, Trends in Ecology and Evolution, volume 19 (March), issue 3, (2004), pages 114-115. (3) Scott. E and Branch. G, Evolution: Whats wrong with teaching the controversy?, Trends in Ecology and Evolution, volume 18 (October), issue 10, (2003), pages 499-502. (4) C. Darwin. On the Origin of Species, John Murray (1859). (5) A. Desmond and J. Moore. Darwin: The Life of a Tormented Evolutionist, Warner Books (1991). (6) www.askoxford.com/, 19/02/06, 2015 (7) Harding. R and McVean. G, A structured ancestral population for the evolution of modern humans, Current opinion in Genetics and Development, volume 14 (December), issue 6 (2004), pages 667-674. (8) Gibbons. R, Dugaiczy. L, Girke. T, Duistermars. B, Zielinski. R and Dugaiczy. A, distinguishing humans from great apes with AluYb8 repeats, Journal of Molecular Biology, volume 339 (June), issue 4 (2004), pages 721-729. (9) Lindenfors, 2002 P. Lindenfors, Sexually antagonistic selection on primate size, J. Evol. Biol. 15 (2002), pp. 595-607 (10) Gustafsson. A and Lindenfors. P, human size evolution: no evolutionary allometric relationship between male and female statue, Journal of Human Evolution, volume 47 (October), issue 4 (2004), pages 253-266. (11) Hirasaki. E, Ogihara. N, Hamada. Y, Kumakura. H, Nakatsukaa. M, do highly trained monkeys walk like humans? A kinematic study of bipedal locomotion in bipedally trained Japanese macaques, Journal of Human Evolution, volume 46 (June), issue 6 (2004), pages 739-750.

Compare the two poems, Presents from my aunts in Pakistan and Essay exa

Compare the two poems, Presents from my aunts in Pakistan and Search for my tongue. Both poems shows people thinking about their roots and how each poem conveys their thoughts and feelings. In this essay I will be evaluating two poems from different cultures and traditions. Both poems 'Search for my tongue' and 'presents from my aunts in Pakistan' are about true identity and searching for your roots. 'Presents from my aunts in Pakistan' is mainly about a girl who is of mixed race and how she describes the gifts of clothes and jewellery sent to her in England by her Pakistani relatives. There is no rhyme scheme and the poem is written in free verse. Free verse simply means that the phrases are arranged loosely across the page. It is divided into stanzas of varying length. The girl contrasts the beautiful clothes and jewellery of India with English clothing. She describes how it feels like wearing the 'salwar kameez' and how she longed for denim and corduroy. She's drawn to the loveliness of the gifts but feels awkward wearing them because she is more comfortable in English clothes. The poem is full of associated, sometimes contrasting images. An example of a contrasting image is ' of no fixed nationality staring through fretwork in the Shalimar gardens.' Fretwork is basically decorative carving and the Shalimar gardens is an ornamental ark in Lahore, her hometown. The girl describes how life in England differs from life in Pakistan. She talks about the salwar kameez as 'alien' but wanting cardigans from Marks and Spencer's. The way the women live is somewhat different from that of England. For example her aunts were in shaded rooms, screened from male visitors whereas the women in England go o... ... left with. The speaker imagines herself there in Lahore - somewhere she has been only in her thoughts. However she is of no fixed nationality. This sounds a slightly threatening phrase. After thoroughly reading the poems, I have arrived at two main conclusions. Firstly it is important to know where one comes from, which is perhaps what the girl in the poem was lacking as a child and it is also important to know what has gone into one's making, even quite far back, I think it gives you a sense perhaps of richness. Secondly it is sometimes very difficult knowing two languages but having to neglect the one that belongs to you. One's mother tongue is an important link to your family and your childhood. Last but not least I agree deeply with the statement and I quote ' that's the deepest layer of my identity' which was said by Sujati Bhatt, the writer.

In Twelve Angry Men Rose Shows That Doubt Is an Easier State of Mind Than Certainty Essay

Set in the sweltering summer of 1954, Reginald Rose’s socially insightful play â€Å"Twelve Angry Men†, illustrates the dangers of a justice system that relies on twelve individuals to reach a â€Å"life or death† decision with collective states of minds hindered by â€Å"personal prejudice†. At the conception of the play, rose explores the idea that doubt is a harder state of mind than certainty by portraying doubt, in the guilt of the boy, as a minority view within the courtroom. However, as the play progresses a seed of doubt is planted and the importance of self prejudice hindering the verdict is removed, making it harder for the jurors to hold their certainty in their guilty verdict. At the conception of Twelve Angry Men, Rose exposes the audience to the devastating heat in the jury room which over looks the â€Å"New York sky line† on what is described as â€Å"the hottest day of the the year†. At this stage it is revealed to the audience the apathetic nature of jury members, uninterested in the â€Å"grave responsibility† they have in deciding the fate of the â€Å"16 year old boys life† and more interested with the goal of escaping the plain, oven like jury room. With each juror being blinded by the thick glaze of heat In front of them a verdict of guilty becomes the instinctive state of mind and the room for reasonable doubt is eliminated from all but one. The author, Reginald Rose displays through juror 8 that to be doubtful when challenging a majority becomes a harder state of mind, â€Å"as it’s not easy to stand alone against the ridicule of other† at this moment juror 8 initiates his campaign that we can never be certain about anything, we can only make assumptions based on the information provided. As juror 8’s campaign continues, and the seed of doubt planted into the â€Å"guilty† minded jury members is fertilised thorough the analysing of facts the reasonable doubt slowly grows in the jurors minds, the audience begin to create an understanding that doubt is an easier state of mind than certainty, as to be doubtful you are not accountable to that single view, as we are reminded in the text from juror 8 â€Å"I don’t know whether I believe it or not† parting him from the majority but lowering the conflict, as he is not certain about the innocence of the boy rather not feeling not comfortable to raise his â€Å"hand and send a boy off to die without talking  about it first†, making the doubtful state of mind an easier sense of conscience although a harder sense to preach onto the other jury members who consist of the majority. Towards the conclusion of the play twelve angry men, doubt begins to become an easier state of mind as the persuasion of doubt is created through a range of events that after previously being concrete are now questioned, and the â€Å"not guilty† verdict is now the majority verdict, this releases the oppressively hot environment of the jury room through the delivery of rain, representing a Burst of relief and fresh air for the jurors. Although, Reginald Rose decisively leaves one jury member (3) who is still stuck in the train of personal prejudice and believes the kid â€Å"knifed his father 6 inches into the chest†. Juror 3s certain state of mind portrays him as the villain of twelve angry men, a man who is blinded by his own personal outside influences and is illustrated as a stubborn man with no â€Å"integrity† when defending his view of â€Å"guilty†, this shows that his state of mind being â€Å"guilty† now becomes the harder state of mind as he is left as the minority, and could not separate personal prejudice when dealing with the fate of another’s life, effecting his judgement. After juror 3 finally splits his relationship between his son and the 16 year old boy on trial a â€Å"not-guilty† verdict is delivered to the judge. Reginald Rose shows his intended audience at the conception of the film that doubt is the harder state of mind as juror 8 views on the boy and trial is challenging the majority, although throughout the progression of the play, not one juror member is able to hold his certainty, making doubt an easier state of mind as they do not have to hold a certain point of view and are not accountable to that single certain view.

The Space Race And The Vietnam War - 1792 Words

While the 1950s stressed conformity, the 1960s gave full vent to those impulses. The 1960s was a period of transformational change, when long-held values and social norms broke down and were replaced with idealism and rebellion. It is also described as ‘’a breakthrough, a fleeting moment of glory, a time when a significant chunk of humanity realised its moral potential and flirted with its neurological destiny’’ . The young people did not want to reform the society, they did however want to overhaul it, remake it and if needed, destroy it . The sweeping social changes and prevailing attitudes of the decade were epitomised through the rejection of conventions and traditions associated with many aspects of life, including fashion. As Coco Chanel stated, ‘’fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening’’ . Many of these chang es were prompted by the feminist movement, the space race and the Vietnam War. Evidently, new fashion trends emerged which reflected these new ideals. Some of the most prevalent trends included revealing clothing, space age designs and alternative hippie clothing. Women’s fashion in the 1960s rejected previous traditions of the past and became symbolic of the changes women were gaining through the feminist movement. During this period, women concluded that they would not accept the feminine mystique, which generally accepted views that an idealShow MoreRelatedThe Sixties : An Era Of Continuing Movement For Civil Rights1310 Words   |  6 Pagesliving at home. Unfortunately, the US involvement with the Vietnam war became a priority, and helping out the impoverished and the minorities was placed on the backburner. There was simply not enough money left in America from the war and other debts to pay for Vietnam and the war on poverty. 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