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A Celebration of The Theory of Evolution.

Justanatheist

Well-Known Member
The Theory of Evolution is accepted as the best way available for us to understand the diversity of life on our planet. It is accepted by 97% of scientists.

I am just an atheist, I was taught evolution in O level biology at school and then went on to become an engineer, hardly giving evolution a second thought.

On this forum I realise there a many people with a much greater understanding of the Theory of Evolution than me and I am hoping they will enlighten me as to how the Theory has benefited mankind, what are the practical applications that teachers, doctors, scientists, etc get from understanding evolution.

This is not a debate about whether The Theory of Evolution is correct it is a celebration of what the Theory of Evolution has given us. So whether your a theist or an atheist please feel free to explain to someone with a basic understanding of science the benefits obtained from The Theory of Evolution.
 

Heyo

Veteran Member
The Theory of Evolution is accepted as the best way available for us to understand the diversity of life on our planet. It is accepted by 97% of scientists.

I am just an atheist, I was taught evolution in O level biology at school and then went on to become an engineer, hardly giving evolution a second thought.

On this forum I realise there a many people with a much greater understanding of the Theory of Evolution than me and I am hoping they will enlighten me as to how the Theory has benefited mankind, what are the practical applications that teachers, doctors, scientists, etc get from understanding evolution.

This is not a debate about whether The Theory of Evolution is correct it is a celebration of what the Theory of Evolution has given us. So whether your a theist or an atheist please feel free to explain to someone with a basic understanding of science the benefits obtained from The Theory of Evolution.
Testing of medical procedures and drugs on non-human animals.
Knowing that humans are related to other animals gives us the confidence that tests on other animals gives us valid insight into the usability of drugs on humans.
 

Justanatheist

Well-Known Member
Here is an interesting article, more to celebrate.

200 years after Charles Darwin’s birth and 150 years after the publication of “On the Origin of Species”, the field of psychology is traveling back to its roots as a life science, integrating the same principles biologists use to understand non-human life forms to understand human behavior and cognition. Darwin’s theories of natural and sexual selection identified the primary forces that shape both physiological structures and psychological mechanisms alike. Combined with the recent theoretical advances offered by genic selection and inclusive fitness theory, Darwin’s principles have proved to be invaluable tools for mapping the structure of the modern human mind and linking it with our long evolutionary history. For instance, we now know that the threats our ancestors faced left their legacy in the particular fears and phobias humans are most likely to acquire – fears of fanged creatures like spiders and snakes, but not of modern-day threats like the guns and fast moving cars that are far more likely to kill us today. Research applying Darwinian principles has also shown that kinship is a privileged social relationship, governed by specialized psychological mechanisms that infer relatedness based on ancestrally available cues that reliably distinguished kin from non-kin and between different types of kin. We have also discovered that human females, like our mammalian cousins, have an estrus phase of the cycle in which their sexual preferences and behaviors shift in reproductively sensible ways. These, and the many other discoveries enabled by the application of evolutionary tools, would not have been made without Darwin’s grand theory.
Evolutionary theory and psychology
 

Justanatheist

Well-Known Member
I have taken the liberty of copying this from the article @ChristineM provided.

Topic Core principle
Types of explanation (question framing) Both proximate (mechanistic) and ultimate (evolutionary) explanations are needed to provide a full biological understanding of traits, including those that increase vulnerability to disease.

Evolutionary processes (evolution I) All evolutionary processes, including natural selection, genetic drift, mutation, migration and non-random mating, are important for understanding traits and disease.

Reproductive success (evolution I) Natural selection maximizes reproductive success, sometimes at the expense of health and longevity.

Sexual selection (evolution I) Sexual selection shapes traits that result in different health risks between sexes.

Constraints (evolution I) Several constraints inhibit the capacity of natural selection to shape traits that are hypothetically optimal for health.

Trade-offs (evolutionary trade-offs) Evolutionary changes in one trait that improve fitness can be linked to changes in other traits that decrease fitness.

LHT (evolutionary trade-offs) Life history traits, such as age at first reproduction, reproductive lifespan and rate of senescence, are shaped by evolution, and have implications for health and disease.

Levels of selection (evolution II) Vulnerabilities to disease can result when selection has opposing effects at different levels (e.g. genetic elements, cells, organisms, kin and other levels).

Phylogeny (evolution II) Tracing phylogenetic relationships for species, populations, traits or pathogens can provide insights into health and disease.

Coevolution (evolution II) Coevolution among species can influence health and disease (e.g. evolutionary arms races and mutualistic relationships such as those seen in the microbiome).

Plasticity (evolution II) Environmental factors can shift developmental trajectories in ways that influence health and the plasticity of these trajectories can be the product of evolved adaptive mechanisms.

Defenses (reasons for vulnerability) Many signs and symptoms of disease (e.g. fever) are useful defenses, which can be pathological if dysregulated.

Mismatch (reasons for vulnerability) Disease risks can be altered for organisms living in environments that differ from those in which their ancestors evolved.

Cultural practices (culture) Cultural practices can influence the evolution of humans and other species (including pathogens), in ways that can affect health and disease (e.g. anti-biotic use, birth practices, diet, etc.).
 

exchemist

Veteran Member
The Theory of Evolution is accepted as the best way available for us to understand the diversity of life on our planet. It is accepted by 97% of scientists.

I am just an atheist, I was taught evolution in O level biology at school and then went on to become an engineer, hardly giving evolution a second thought.

On this forum I realise there a many people with a much greater understanding of the Theory of Evolution than me and I am hoping they will enlighten me as to how the Theory has benefited mankind, what are the practical applications that teachers, doctors, scientists, etc get from understanding evolution.

This is not a debate about whether The Theory of Evolution is correct it is a celebration of what the Theory of Evolution has given us. So whether your a theist or an atheist please feel free to explain to someone with a basic understanding of science the benefits obtained from The Theory of Evolution.
Topics such as microbial and cancer cell drug resistance are understood as being evolutionary responses. Resistance of plants and insects to herbicides and insecticides is also an evolutionary response, making us more aware of the dangers of overuse of such chemicals.

Right now the appearance and spread of different variants of SARS-CoV-2 is governed by variation and natural selection, in a real-time demonstration of Darwin's hypothesis in action. Understanding of modes of evolution of the virus is implicit in the design of the vaccines.
 

Justanatheist

Well-Known Member
The appearance and spread of different variants of SARS-CoV-2 is governed by variation and natural selection, in a real-time demonstration of Darwin's hypothesis in action. Understanding of modes of evolution of the virus is implicit in the design of the vaccines.

Sorry you lost me a bit then, is what everyone calls Covid a variant of SARS-CoV-2?
 

exchemist

Veteran Member
Sorry you lost me a bit then, is what everyone calls Covid a variant of SARS-CoV-2?
Strictly speaking, Covid 19 is the name given to the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Sometimes I feel the need to be pedantic and sciency about it - and sometimes I don't bother.;) But the name of the virus is SARS-CoV-2. It's a relative of the original SARS-CoV-1 virus that went round Asia in 2002-4, commonly referred to at the time as just "SARS".
 
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