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Gould, Stephen Jay, "Trends as Changes in Variance: A New Slant on Progress and Directionality in Evolution," Journal of Paleontology, vol. 62 (May 1988), pp. 319-329. Presidential Address. (As quoted in That Their Words May Be Used Against Them, compiled by Henry Morris, available from the Institute for Creation Research.)

p. 319
When we think that we proceed with absolute and comprehensive objectivity, we are even more likely to be lost, for then we unconsciously cloak our own disabling biases and sally forth down a primrose path masquerading as the straight and narrow road to final truth."

Many students feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of "evidence" claimed for evolution. Have YOU been led down The Primrose Path of Evolutionary Story-telling ? Have any of the claims listed below convinced you that you evolved from nothing to the Big Bang, to a star, to a supernova, to gas and dust, to organic soup, to a living cell, to a metazoan, to a fish, to an amphibian, to a reptile, to a mammal, to a primate, to the person you see when your look in the mirror? - that your life is a cosmic accident, devoid of intrinsic meaning or purpose or reason for hope?

The following is a list of claims frequently made for evolution theory. For a REALITY CHECK, click the highlighted portion of any claim.

Evolutionary Claim:

The universe is a grand accident, un-caused and undirected - it just happened. First there was nothing, (no photons, no plasma, no atoms, no mass - therefore no time [a property of matter], no space [a property of matter], no laws of physics [properties of matter] ), - then it exploded, and nothing accidentally turned itself into everything.

Evolutionary Claim:

"The cosmos is all there is or ever was or ever will be" - Carl Sagan

Evolutionary Claim:

Science has proved the universe is 10-20 billion years old.

Evolutionary Claim:

Following the Big Bang, gravity pulled clouds of gas into stars , triggering slow-burning nuclear fusion. Over eons of time, many stars burned out and exploded, producing clouds of stardust containing heavy elements.

Evolutionary Claim:

The solar system formed 4.6 billion years ago from the debris of exploded stars.

Evolutionary Claim:

Earth is 4.6 billion years old.

Evolutionary Claim:

Early Earth had a reducing atmosphere of hydrogen, methane and ammonia. There was no free oxygen.

Evolutionary Claim:

Life arose by spontaneous generation (also called "abiogenesis"). Earth's early oceans collected the chemical building blocks of life, forming an organic soup. Here, simple organic molecules (monomers) linked up (polymerized) to form complex macromolecules. Eventually, enough protein and DNA molecules randomly assembled to form the first living cell - a microbe which grew, divided, and replicated itself.

Alternate version:

Life arose on mineral surfaces due to mild catalytic properties inherent in the minerals

Alternate version:

Life arose in the intense heat and mineral-rich water of a thermal vent on the ocean floor.

Alternate version:

Self-replicating molecules of RNA gave rise to life.

Evolutionary Claim:

As descendants of the first cell continued to replicate, occasional copy errors, mutations, provided variation. Some variations displayed increased survival rates, and greater complexity. By favoring those variants that best survived and reproduced, Natural Selection cumulated all manner of biological complexity.

Evolutionary Claim:

Over tens of millions of years, single-cell microbes evolved into metazoans and land plants.

Evolutionary Claim:

Over millions of years, by mutation and natural selection, fish evolved from metazoans.

Evolutionary Claim:

Over millions of years, by mutation and natural selection, amphibians evolved from fish .

Evolutionary Claim:

Over millions of years, by mutation and natural selection, reptiles evolved from amphibians.

Evolutionary Claim:

Over millions of years, by mutation, natural selection, and genetic drift, reptiles diversified into numerous taxonomic orders, including several orders of dinosaurs.

Evolutionary Claim:

The last dinosaurs became extinct 65,000,000 years ago.

Evolutionary Claim:

Over millions of years, by mutations and natural selection, birds evolved from reptiles.

Evolutionary Claim:

Over millions of years, mammals evolved from reptiles.

Evolutionary Claim:

At least one line of land mammals returned to the sea and evolved into whales and dolphins.

Evolutionary Claim:

Meanwhile, back on land, over millions of years, horses evolved from small mammals.

Evolutionary Claim:

Over millions of years, humans evolved from small primates.