[wanita-muslimah] Misunderstanding the theory of evolution
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/03/25/misunderstanding-theory-evolution.html Misunderstanding the theory of evolution Dyna Rochmyaningsih , Jakarta | Thu, 03/25/2010 9:33 AM | Opinion One year after its bicentennial celebration, there are still many people who regard the theory of evolution as propaganda to spread anti-religious thought. I suspect that it is due to the misperception of the theory in the mind of common people. Most of them perceive the theory of evolution only as the gradual change from monkey to human which is insulting to their faith. They grasp the theory only on a superficial level without understanding the mechanism of the theory itself. Given the comment made by Prof. Boedi Hartono from the University of Indonesia in The Jakarta Post this month, commenting on an article by Michael Casey, he said that the finding of Homo floresiensis as a new species did not challenge the theory of evolution. I agree with him since the concept of the Hobbit as a new species is an interpretation that may only affect the theory of human evolution. It has nothing to do with the evolution of cats, dogs, or orchids. But what has happened in the mind of many people is that the theory of evolution is only applied to humans. So the article by Michael Casey is enough for them to deny the controversial theory. Of course this is a shallow view. The theory of evolution itself is the explanation of how the diversity of all living things on earth came into existence. It is a fact that there are other kinds of organisms besides human on this earth such as cats, trees, dogs etc. But how did those diverse organisms come into existence? We can accept the explanation of how a volcanic rock can exist in this world by inferring that the rock is the result of an eruption of a mountain hundreds of years ago. So why can't we accept the explanation of how a living thing comes into existence? Every living thing is the product of their progenitor. For instance, we are the product of the mating of our parents. We inherit their genes in a new combination that shapes our physical and physiological characteristics. No one would say that they come into the world out of nothing; they must have biological parents to exist in the world. And so is with our cats, dogs, trees, they all originated from their parents. One important piece of evidence for the theory of evolution comes from this very fact: Every living thing has genetic material and they get it from their parents. And their parents, as living things, get their genetic material from their grandparents, and so on and so forth until we meet the ancestors. But the problem is the genetic material in every organism may change in a random pattern called mutation. Since the genes are the blueprint of an organism, mutation often affects the physical and physiological characteristic of an organism. If the change is good and suitable for the environment, the mutant organism may survive and pass the mutant gene to their children, which will finally replace the dominancy of the normal one. The mutant individuals may become a new species. Thus, we can infer that the new species is the descendant of the previous species. I think it is reasonable for us to accept this explanation. The same mechanism can be applied in all organisms which procreate through sexual reproduction. Their existence can be explained by the changing of genetic material of their ancestors, correlated with its suitability with the environment. But, of course, as a scientific theory, this mechanism is not the ultimate truth of everything. Recently, scientists have found another way for an organism to acquire new genes: horizontal genetic transfer (HGT). Unlike normal genetic inheritance, which is passed from parents to the offspring, HGT is the mechanism where the genetic material can be transferred from one individual to the other without producing offspring. This finding means that the genomic pattern in one organism may not be used to determine its ancestors. The theory of evolution is confounded here. This confounder makes me think that we should not consider the theory of evolution as a threat to our faith. It is a scientific theory that can be either confounded or corroborated. We should not place it as something that is equal to the ultimate truth in which we may believe. The author is a science writer. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Re: [wanita-muslimah] Misunderstanding the theory of evolution
- Original Message - From: sunny am...@tele2.se To: Undisclosed-Recipient:; Sent: Thursday, March 25, 2010 16:05 Subject: [wanita-muslimah] Misunderstanding the theory of evolution http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/03/25/misunderstanding-theory-evolution.html Misunderstanding the theory of evolution Dyna Rochmyaningsih , Jakarta | Thu, 03/25/2010 9:33 AM | Opinion One year after its bicentennial celebration, there are still many people who regard the theory of evolution as propaganda to spread anti-religious thought. I suspect that it is due to the misperception of the theory in the mind of common people. Most of them perceive the theory of evolution only as the gradual change from monkey to human which is insulting to their faith. They grasp the theory only on a superficial level without understanding the mechanism of the theory itself. ?? ?? ??? ??? ? ? ?? ??? ?? ??? ? ? ? ??? ??? ?? ??? ** Metode Pendekatan Satu Kutub dalam Mengkaji Ayat Qawliyah dan Kawniyah Pidato Ilmiyah yang disajikan dalam rangka Peringatan Milad (Dies Natalis) UNIVERSITAS MUSLIM INDONESIA yang ke 41 (1954 - 1995) ** == oleh H.Muh.Nur Abdurrahman == Lampiran II Teori Evolusi Di kepulauan Galapagos, yang terletak di Pasifik, sebelah barat kotinen Amerika Selatan, Charles Darwin mengintizhar (mrngobservasi) di sana burung pekicau yang bentuknya menyimpang dengan yang di daratan Amerika. Pada setiap pulau terdapat bentuk yang berbeda dari jenis yang sama. Kepulauan ini sudah lama terisolasi, sehingga burung-burung itupun juga sudah lama terisolasi. Begitupun keadannya dengan penyu-penyu laut, terdapat pula penyimpangan dengan yang sejenisnya di pesisir Amerika Barat. Darwin tiba pada kesimpulan, bahwa burung-burung ataupun penyu-penyu yang berbeda itu berasal dari jenis yang sama. Terjadinya perbedaan itu, karena mengalami proses evolusi, menyesuaikan diri dengan keadaan lingkungannya Selanjutnya Darwin kemudian menarik kesimpulan dengan generalisasi, bahwa setiap binatang yang sekarang ada persamaannya, berasal dari jenis yang sama. Evolusi yang terjadi karena binatang itu menyesuaikan diri lingkungannya, sehingga dari satu jenis yang sama terjadi variasi bentuk, disebut evolusi horisontal. Ujicoba Teori Evolusi Terhadap Fosil, Ilmu Genetika dan Serologi Darwin memperhadapkan tafsiran hasil penelitiannya itu terhadap hasil penelitian Cuvir tentang fosil. Hasil rujukan ini menghasilkan generalisasi lebih lanjut, bahwa binatang itu bermula dari bentuk yang paling bersahaja, berangsur-angsur secara evolusi meningkat ke bentuk yang lebi komplex, hingga yang paling komplex, ialah manusia. Perubahan bentuk yang meningkat secara evolusi itu disebut evolusi vertikal. Menurut Darwin evolusi vertikal itu terjadi secara acak (serampangan / random), itulah sebabnya maka disebut blind evolution (evolusi tidak terarah). Sebenarnya Darwin tidak sendirian dengan teori evolusi ini, karena sebelumnya secara terpisah Chevalier de Lamarck yang mengadakan penelitian di pulau-pulau Maluku Utara juga tiba pada kesimpulan yang sama dengan Darwin tentang evolusi, bahkan sesungguhnya Lamarck yang lebih dahulu. Namun publikasi Darwin lebih meluas ketimbang Lamarck. Menurut Lamarck perubahan bentuk secara evolusi horisontal itu berlangsung, karena bagian tubuh dalam penggunaannya menyesuaikan diri dengan alam lingkungan hidupnya. Seamsal anjing laut kakinya sudah berbentuk sirip, karena berlama-lama turun-temurun dipakai untuk berenang. Menurut Darwin evolusi horisontal itu disebabkan oleh seleksi alam berupa struggle for existence, perjuangan untuk mewujud (eksistensi) dan survival of the fittest, yang tertangguh bertahan hidup. Darwin dan Lamarck tidak sempat lagi menyaksikan, bahwa dikemudian hari teori evolusinya yang ditopang oleh hasil penelitian fosil itu, diperhadapkan pada ilmu genetika. Perubahan eksternal (variasi phaenotypis) yang dikemukakan Lamarck dan Darwin dibantah oleh ilmu genetika (keturunan), yaitu variasi phaenotypis itu tidak menurun ke generasi berikutnya, karena perubahan yang menurun itu (variasi genotypis) ditentukan oleh khromosom sebagai pusat kelestarian (heredity), jadi bersifat internal. Biarpun ekor kucing misalnya dipotong terus-menerus dari generasi ke generasi, tidak akan menghasilkan kucing tanpa ekor, sebab telah terpola dalam khromosom bahwa kucing itu berekor. Pada mulanya duel antara teori evolusi dengan variasi phaenotypisnya itu
