To: trekcreative{at}yahoogroups.com
From: "ronwaldyo "

Reply-To: trekcreative{at}yahoogroups.com

-+- Garry Stahl  wrote:
> Which is why evolution does not
> explain it.  Evolution simply states
> that "life forms change over time."
> It has no mechanism for the change
> or one that adequately allows some
> forms to not change.  It might be the
> best theory going, but it has more
> holes than a Swiss cheese.
>

One of the things that has been changing in the last decade or so with the
discussion of evolution is to not see it as a linear process but a complex
one of various inter-related causes.  The level of that complexity is
enormous and is difficult to reduce down to simple "this cause
produces that effect" kinds of models.

The human species is a result of genetics, environment, social structures,
other species' existence and extinction, the development of intelligence,
our own genocidal tendencies, population growth, and much more.  None of
these factors acts in a vacuum, but each influence each other and in turn
are influenced by the effects of past influences.

I think evolution does explain most if not all of what we see in our own
development and by extension what we should expect to find throughout the
rest of the universe.  "Transcendent Influences" such as gods,
fairies, elves, or space aliens (though this would apply if indeed species
travel from world to world) probably have little to do with the process.

Two excellent references for the development of the human species and
evolutionary theory I'd recommend are:

"Dominion" by Niles Eldredge - University of California Press 1995

and

"The Third Chimpanzee - The Evolution and Future of the Human
Animal" by Jared Diamond
 - Harper Collins 1992

Both tend to be a little too pessimistic on their discussions of the future
of the human species, but that aside present a more complex view of
evolution than usually is given in the fine educational institutions most
of us have gone through. :)

-Michael Gray
Star Trek: Dark Horizon
http://hometown.aol.com/darkhrzn91701/main.htm



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