The ultimate origin?
The theory of evolution is the most commonly accepted origin story in the modern world. The theory of evolution is seen as the most scientifically founded explanation of the origin of all things in physical reality (so we really need to pay attention to this one!). In fact, it was founded by scientists looking for the scientific origin of everything. The idea and term were first officially coined by Charles Darwin to explain where all animals and humans came from [1]. At first, Evolution was only concerned about explaining where animals/Humans came from, but over time expanded to include where all life, Planet Earth, and even the entire universe came from.
Today this theory is accepted by all major scientists, formal institutions, and by the general public of the western world (and eastern as well!) it is taught as the ultimate origin truth in schools all across the world and written as our origin in all official Science and history books [2]. It is considered the ultimate and most truthful origin to date…But the real question is…is it?
The Theory of Evolution:
What it claims
This theory states that everything started out as nothing (or as a small point of matter/energy called a ‘Singularity’ for a while), and then a big bang/expansion just happened some 13,800,000,000 years ago: which was just a massive explosion/expansion out of nothing. This explosion/expansion produced all laws of nature (such as gravity, time, space, motion, etc.) and all matter in existence (atoms/particles) out of absolutely nothing (or from a mysterious point of Matter/energy) [3].
Eventually all the matter clumped together and started fission to create the first stars, then planets, then solar systems formed, then entire galaxies developed: Thus, the universe was formed.[4] Then 9,200,000,000 years later one matter of gas in the Milky Way galaxy formed into the sun (our star) and other planets in this particular solar system 4,600,000,000 years ago [5]. In this solar system one of these planets that formed was our planet Earth. It started out as a very hot, volcanic, and toxic planet but as water filled asteroids constantly hit the plant and jarred off a piece of earth to form the moon; Earth cooled down, became rocky, formed an atmosphere, and had oceans full of water.[6][7]
Years later, organic proteins in the water started to form, then these proteins eventually formed into complex proteins: some first formed a “Proteinoid Microsphere” which were small bubbles made by complex proteins then they formed functional proteins like “nucleic acid strands” (R.N.A.) and other functional proteins. One day they came together and formed the first prokaryotic cell: the first life on earth about 3,800,000,000-3,000,000,000 years ago [8][9][10]. Later these cells started to take on specific traits like some begin to absorb sunlight and produce food from it called Photosynthesis, others became more complex cells called eukaryotic cells. After a while, these two cells began to build colonies from their fellow cells: The Photosynthesis Cyanobacteria (The prokaryotic cells that began to produce food from sunlight) began to come together in the water and rock of earth and formed colonies to help one another Photosynthesis these photosynthesizing colonies were the first to produce oxygen and they produced so much of it that they permanently changed the atmosphere of earth: the ozone layer formed while the atmosphere filled with air and the sky turned blue[9]. While the new complex eukaryotic cells began also to form colonies in the water, they began to grow more and more dependent on one another and formed into more complex colonies, the eukaryotic cells colonies became so dependent one another that they began to function like a single unit, and some made the first multi-cellular animals on earth: which were Living blob-like organisms in the water around 2,100,000,000 years ago [9][10].
After many years, these organisms started to grow into bigger and more complex creatures some with hard exoskeletons and turned into the first anthropoids in the water. Some photosynthesize Prokaryotic cells turned into photosynthesis eukaryotic cells their colonies turned into all early plants of the ocean. A lot of multicellular life then was being produced all in different forms and shapes this was called the Cambrian explosion this was the earth’s first biodiversity and ecosystem[7][9][11] Eventually these organisms began to change and evolved into all the know types of animals and plants today: The early arthropods in the ocean formed into fish, worms and crustaceans[12] and eventually ventured onto land and became amphibians, insects, worms, reptiles: from the smallest lizard to the biggest dinosaur; Eventually later from some of these reptiles the first Mammals formed[13]. The sea plants also evolved into all known plants: seaweed, algae mats, and fungi. when they also went to land 450,000,000 years ago, they formed all land plants: mosses, fungi, trees, bushes, flowers, grasses, and vines.[14]
65,000,000 years ago, a huge asteroid came and hit the Yucatan peninsula and caused massive climate change and killed all the massive reptiles, called dinosaurs, leaving only small insects, small Dinos, and small mammals.[9][15]
The Small Dinos that were left had formed wings with the first feathers before the massive extinction when they started flying, they then grew beaks: these Dinos formed all types of birds: eagles, songbirds, owls and vultures.[9][16] The small mammals that lived on came to conquer the land and all different types of mammals formed: canines, felines, bats, hooved-animals, primates, and rodents. Some of these land mammals, however, did not stay on land but ventured back into the ocean and became porpoises: like Whales and Dolphins [9][17]. Primates were one of the last; these primates were the last mammals to fully evolve. These primates began to evolve into different species; they spread over Europe the Americas, Asia and Africa; some of those that went to Africa eventually evolved into great apes [17]. One day in Southern Africa a great ape began to walk upright and began to use some stone tools these were called "Australopithecines" (Meaning “Southern Apes” in Latin) about 3,000,000 years ago. These creatures then changed even more and became "Homo Eretus" (Meaning “Upright Human Beings” in Latin) 1,500,000 years ago and began to use better stone tools. This species then began to travel out of Africa some went to Europe 100,000 years ago and became tougher in the icy environment: with more muscles and a broader face: this new species was known as "Neanderthal" (meaning “People of Neander”). They were more animal-like and more brutal than the other group that formed from the same homid apes south of Europe called now "Homo Sapiens Sapiens" (meaning “Wise, Wise human being” in Latin) which were the first official human beings on planet earth.[18] by 30,000 years ago the Homo Sapines Sapines took over the Neanderthals in Europe which died out. They then proceeded to take over the rest of the world and by 10,000 years ago they had spread all over the continental world. These early human beings lived as hunter-gathers in small local communities and sometimes caves in the "Paleolithic" (meaning “Old stone age” in Greek) between. However between 8,000-4,000 years ago these humans started to grow their own food and started to raise their own animals, this led to permanent communities and larger populations this was called the "Neolithic revolution" (Neolithic meaning “New stone age” in Greek) because Humans all over the world were beginning to grow their own food instead of gathering it from the wild and razing their own animals instead of hunting them; this lead to the developing of many different cultures around the world and then to massive civilizations and the rest is (literally) history.[18]
The very word “Evolution” means “to evolve” or “to change from a former state to a new state or to constantly be in transitioning into a newer state.” [19] This describes this origin theory in a nutshell: From the very beginning of the universe to right now, every single thing made of matter has been in a natural constant state of change; from a former state to newer state.
So, what does evolution mean for your personal worldview?
What it means for you is this:
That all things you know, love, and hate in this world and universe came by random chance from a random explosion/mysterious expansion 13,800,000,000 years ago and your life is the byproduct of that amazingly random chance over billions of years. Thus, your life is whatever you want it to be, and you can do whatever you want with your life because there is no absolute right or wrong for your purpose in life:
This leads to all types of personal worldviews: mostly ones that benefit the individual’s desired lifestyle because there is no right or wrong in a lifestyle: so, do what you like and/or what benefits you.
Right or wrong is whatever the laws of your particular society are in a particular time, so the standard of right and wrong is not set and is a civilized being/human invention and varies depending on the society and time.
So, the set standards for right and wrong for the modern globalized human society today (Which is really modern western [European] standards of right and wrong spread across the world through globalization) is humanism: which is a lifestyle set on values/beliefs of what modern western society defines as ‘good’ for a proper modern citizen to think/believe and values/actions that are ‘bad’ for a proper modern citizen to do [20]. (But once again, since there is technically no absolute ‘Good’ or ‘Bad’ because there is not ultimate standard; Humanism is just a cultural guideline for today it's really just a suggestion and therefore any lifestyle/worldview will work).
so, ultimately as a individual human; you better live your life and do whatever you want to do with it, because ultimately it will not matter after you die because once you die that's it!
this makes the individual want to make the most out of their life since there is so little time before they die and leads to more individual preferences/worldviews (Like The ‘Y.O.L.O.’ lifestyle/worldview) [21]
Now time for our next worldview…
Sources:
[1]
[A] National Geographic “Theory of Evolution” by Tyson Brown
Website:
[B] pg 450 Chapter 16 “Darwin’s Theory of Evolution” Section 1 “Darwin’s Voyage of Discovery” “Miller & Levine Biology” by Kenneth R. Miller and Joseph S. Levine Pearson Education Inc. 2010 Edition Upper Saddle River New Jersey.
[2]
For example: For my sources on Evolution, I used both academic science books and a history book in several of my sources all used in public schools to explain the origin of the universe:
They are
[A] Prentice Hall “Physical Science: Concepts in action” by Michael Wysession,David Frank,and Sophia Yancopoulos; Pearson Education Inc. 2009 Edition Upper Saddle River New Jersey.
[B] “Miller & Levine Biology” by Kenneth R. Miller and Joseph S. Levine Pearson Education Inc. 2010 Edition Upper Saddle River New Jersey.
[C] Glenco “World History: Modern Times” by Jackson J. Spielvogel Ph.D. 2005 Edition by McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. Colombus Ohio.
[3]
[A]Nasa Science Space Place “What Is the Big Bang?”
Website:
https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/big-bang/en/
[B]Space.com What Is the Big Bang Theory?
By Elizabeth Howell November 07, 2017
Website:
https://www.space.com/25126-big-bang-theory.html
[C] pg. 854 Chapter 26 Section 5 “Expanding the universe” from Prentice Hall “Physical Science: Concepts in action” by Michael Wysession,David Frank,and Sophia Yancopoulos; Pearson Education Inc. 2009 Edition Upper Saddle River New Jersey.
[4]
[A] Uppsala Universitet Department of Physics and Astronomy “The First Stars and Galaxies
GALAXIES IN THE EARLY UNIVERSE” by Erik Zackrisson and Martin Sahlén
Webiste:
[B] Scientific American “The First Stars in the Universe” By Richard B. Larson and Volker Bromm on January 19, 2009
Website
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-first-stars-in-the-un/
[C]Quatr.us from professor Carr “What are planets? Astronomy – Space science” by Professor Carr August 19, 2017
Website:
[D]EarthSky “How and when did the first planets form in our universe?” by Deborah Byrd September 15, 2012
Website:
https://earthsky.org/space/how-and-when-did-the-first-planets-form-in-our-universe
[E]The University of Texas McDonald Observatory StarDate “Galaxy Formation” by Damond Benningfield and Doug Addison Austin, TX
Website:
https://earthsky.org/space/how-and-when-did-the-first-planets-form-in-our-universe
[5]
[A]Pg 818-820 Chapter 25 Section 5 “The Origin of the Solar System” from Prentice Hall “Physical Science: Concepts in action” by Michael Wysession,David Frank,and Sophia Yancopoulos; Pearson Education Inc. 2009 Edition Upper Saddle River New Jersey.
[B]World Atlas “How Old Is The Solar System?” by Sharon Omondi September 29 2017
Website:
https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/how-old-is-the-solar-system.html
[6]
Pg.735-738 Chapter 23 Section 6 “Earth’s History” from Prentice Hall “Physical Science: Concepts in action” by Michael Wysession,David Frank,and Sophia Yancopoulos; Pearson Education Inc. 2009 Edition Upper Saddle River New Jersey.
[7]
The Wire Science “A Brief History of Earth: How it All Began” by Sandhya Ramesh 06/JUN/2016
Website:
https://thewire.in/science/a-brief-history-of-the-earth-how-it-all-began
[8]
[A] LiveScience “What Was the First Life on Earth?” By Stephanie Pappas March 01, 2017
Website:
https://www.livescience.com/57942-what-was-first-life-on-earth.html
[9]
[B] Pg 553- 555 Chapter 19 “History of Life” Section 3 “Earth’s Early History” from “Miller & Levine Biology” by Kenneth R. Miller and Joseph S. Levine Pearson Education Inc. 2010 Edition Upper Saddle River New Jersey.
[10]
[A]NASA Astrobiology at NASA “How Did Multicellular Life Evolve?” by Charles Q. Choi FEB. 13, 2017
Website:
https://astrobiology.nasa.gov/news/how-did-multicellular-life-evolve/
[B] Wikipedia “Francevillian biota”
Website:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francevillian_biota
[11]
Britannica Encyclopedia “Cambrian explosion” by Timothy Fridtjof Flannery 8 Aug. 2019
Website:
https://www.britannica.com/science/Cambrian-explosion
[12]
ThoughCo. “500 Million Years of Fish Evolution” By Bob Strauss Aug. 27, 2020
Website:
https://www.thoughtco.com/500-million-years-of-fish-evolution-1093316
[13]
[A] TheShapeofLife “The Land Arthropods
The Conquerors Coming Ashore” by JANE GRAY AND WILLIAM SHEAR
Website:
https://www.shapeoflife.org/sites/default/files/global/TerrestrialArthropods.pdf#:~:text=The%20history%20of%20the%20animals%20whose%20descendants%20would,from%20their%20ancestral%20roots%20of%20primitive%2C%20bilateral%20animals.
[B] Wikipedia “Evolution of insects”
Website:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolution_of_insects#:~:text=The%20first%20insects%20were%20land%20bound%2C%20but%20about,insect%20identity%20of%20the%20fossil%20has%20been%20contested.
[C] Earth Life “Evolution Of Mammals: From The Very First To The Modern Day” by Gordon Ramel
Website:
[14]
[A] Wikipedia “Evolutionary history of plants”
Website:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolutionary_history_of_plants
[B] NewScientists “First land plants plunged Earth into ice age” By Michael Marshall 1 February 2012
Website:
[15]
Dinosaur.org What Killed The Dinosaurs? By Gregory
Website:
https://www.dinosaur.org/what-killed-the-dinosaurs/#:~:text=For%20a%20while%2C%20some%20scientists%20thought%20flowering%20plants,changes%20in%20the%20types%20of%20plants%20and%20trees.
[16]
[A] Wikipedia “Evolution of birds”
Website:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolution_of_birds#:~:text=The%20evolution%20of%20birds%20began%20in%20the%20Jurassic,from%20a%20clade%20of%20theropod%20dinosaurs%20named%20Paraves.
[B] Understanding Evolution “The origin of birds” by Roy Caldwell and David Lindberg
Website:
https://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/evograms_06
[17]
[A] The Naked Scientists “Mammals' rapid evolution after dinosaur extinction” By HORIZON MAGAZINE. 30 August 2018
Website:
[B] Understanding Evolution “The evolution of whales” by Roy Caldwell and David Lindberg
Website:
https://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/evograms_03
[C] Lumen “The Evolution of Primates”
Website:
[18]
Pg. 19-22 Chapter 1 “The First Civilizations and Empires” Section 1 “The First Humans” from Glenco “World History: Modern Times” by Jackson J. Spielvogel Ph.D. 2005 Edition by McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. Colombus Ohio.
[19]
[A] Merriam-Websiter “Evolution”(def 2)
Website:
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/evolution
[20]
[A] Wikipedia “Humanism”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanism
[B] Philosophy Terms “Humanism”
[21]
LifeWire “Here's the Meaning of 'YOLO' for Those Who Have No Idea” by by Elise Moreau
Website: