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It has been a great debate and lament.  The observation I would make is as follows:

The secret of the Origin of Species was the fact that it wasn't shrouded in mystery,  that the evidence is first-hand with the pigeon next door, or the farmer down the street, with the pet in your living room.  And these very same features and characteristics repeated in fossil record and in life generally as observed then and  now: over and over, again and again from generation to generation.  Darwin further observed that the selection was ruthlessly and statistical in nature. That life's physical changes were infinitesimally small and subtle but that over generations: generation after generation ad infinitum.  That they accumulated to myriad forms.

This insight on the prosaic nature of life runs counter the select and chosen one typically proclaimed in religious faiths that provide the story of our existence, but parallel with our positions after 3.5 billion years, because observing life now in all its complexity is beyond human comprehension and imagination, and we are intimately intertwined in its very nature. Every single species that exists today represents the end product of mutation, time, generation time and selection, just as every single species that existed prior was the most perfected of that time and generation on average.

People share knowledge through stories, people seek advantage (access to resources and power) through knowledge, and science is essentially about accurate knowledge and ultimately advantage.  Evolution needs to be perceived as a knowledge-filled advantage and the story will change.

The opinions and thoughts expressed here are my own and should in no way be construed or attributed to the Exploratorium or related organization, and do not represent an institutional position.

Charles Carlson
Senior Scientist
exploratorium
3601 Lyon St.
San Francisco, CA 94123
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Tel:   415-561-0319
Fax:  415-561-0370

Skype: sciskypecharlie
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Twitter: charliec53











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