Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Welcome to EvolutionPlanet.com!

Growing up in a conservative Christian home I was taught that the universe and everything in it was created in six days around six thousand years ago. I consumed numerous creationist books and videos as a kid and used what I learned in those materials to try to convert unbelieving friends. Only after college did I begin to doubt the creationist worldview. When finally confronted with the evidence I came to realize the truth of biological evolution.

Today, it astounds me to look at the natural world and try to comprehend how it could make sense outside of an evolutionary framework. The fossils are stacked up in rock layers around the earth from primitive and extinct life forms to complex modern ones. Life on earth develops from the same genetic language in which the shared history of all living species are recorded. As a consequence of this universal ancestry, living things as diverse as bats and bears and blowfish share the majority of their organs, tissues, and bones.

Evolution truly is the single most important principle in nature, explaining and predicting like no other model before or since. Understanding evolution makes the already-fascinating natural world all the more exciting. Without evolution you have millions of interesting species of plants and animals. With evolution you see the grand scheme—the patterns and relationships across the vast breadth of life on earth.

It seems like all the time I experience "ah-hah!" moments as I learn about the natural world in the context of evolution. As a creationist there were so many contradictions and incongruities. I didn't realize how much I struggled to make reality fit my beliefs, rather than the other way around.

There are lots of blogs, forums, and websites out there covering evolution vs. creationism. I'll touch on the debate on this blog as well, but my aim is to be more educational than argumentative. I've learned long ago that most zealots can't be moved by argument or reason anyway.

My audience is not so much the creationist but the person who's never really studied natural history or evolution. Maybe you've questioned the plausibility of humans as apes, but you've still got an open mind. Maybe you simply haven't looked into the subject very deeply, or you've heard confusing arguments from both sides. Hopefully, this site will be an interesting and thought-provoking introduction to evolution. It might even change your mind.

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