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| | Natural selection is often thought of as being synonymous with [[Theory of evolution|evolution]],<ref>For example, a draft [[New Zealand]] science curriculum confuses the two. Lamb, Andrew, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/5047/ Evaluating an evolutionary science curriculum], 14th April, 2007(Creation Ministries International).</ref> although they are distinct concepts, and [[creationism|creationists]] accept that natural selection is a real, observed, process. | | Natural selection is often thought of as being synonymous with [[Theory of evolution|evolution]],<ref>For example, a draft [[New Zealand]] science curriculum confuses the two. Lamb, Andrew, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/5047/ Evaluating an evolutionary science curriculum], 14th April, 2007(Creation Ministries International).</ref> although they are distinct concepts, and [[creationism|creationists]] accept that natural selection is a real, observed, process. |
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| − | ==Evolution as a theory and a fact== | + | ==General Requirements== |
| | + | Natural selection will automatically take place in any system which follows a certain set of rules. These rules are: |
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| − | The terms fact and theory can be applied to evolution, just as they are to gravity.[1] Misuse and misunderstanding of how those terms are applied to evolution have been used to construct arguments disputing the validity of evolution.
| + | 1) There must be a set of individuals. |
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| − | In the study of biological species, the facts include fossils and measurements of these fossils. The location of a fossil is an example of a fact (using the scientific meaning of the word fact). In species that rapidly reproduce, for example fruit flies, the process of evolutionary change has been observed in the laboratory.[18] The observation of fruit fly populations changing character is also an example of a fact, using the scientific meaning of the word fact. So evolution is a fact, at least using the scientific meaning of the word fact. These facts require an explanation, just as the observations of gravity did.
| + | 2) These individuals must reproduce somehow. |
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| − | In biology, there have been many attempts to explain these observations over the years. Lamarckism, Transmutationism and Orthogenesis were all non-Darwinian theories that attempted to explain the observations of species and fossils and other evidence. However, the Theory of Evolution is the explanation for all relevant observations regarding the development of life, based on a model that explains all the available data and observations. Thus, evolution is not only a fact but also a theory, just as gravity is both a fact and a theory.
| + | 3) The probability or rate of reproduction must be somehow dependent on a heritable trait of the individual (where a heritable trait is one that is more likely to be present in an individual's offspring than it is in the general population). |
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| + | In any such system, individuals whose traits allow them to reproduce more effectively will soon come to dominate the population. |
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| − | !style="background:#d0e5f5;color:black" |Gravity!!style="background:#d0e5f5;color:black" |Evolution
| + | Natural selection has been called a tautology because it follows from its definition, and because it has no observable consequences by itself that anyone has ever tested against an alternate theory. |
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| − | |Things falling is an observation of the pull of bodies towards each other.||Fruit flies changing generation to generation is an observation of generational organism change.
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| − | |Bodies pulling towards each other is called gravity.||Organisms changing generation to generation is called evolution.
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| − | |Gravity is a fact.||Evolution is a fact.
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| − | !style="background:#d0e5f5;color:black" |An explanation for the facts of gravity.!!style="background:#d0e5f5;color:black" |An explanation for the facts of evolution.
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| − | |[[Aristotle]] and [[Galileo]] created explanations of the ''fact'' of gravity. These are now obsolete explanations. ||[[Lamarckism]], [[Transmutationism]] and [[Orthogenesis]] were created as explanations of the fact of evolution. These are now discredited explanations.
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| − | |[[Isaac Newton|Newton's]] explanation of gravity is approximately correct but required refinement.||[[Charles Darwin|Darwin's]] explanation of evolution is approximately correct, but required refinement.
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| − | |[[Einstein]]'s explanation is a refinement of Newton's explanation of gravity. Einstein's explanation is currently the most accepted explanation of the fact of gravity. || The [[modern evolutionary synthesis]] is a refinement of Darwin's explanation of evolution. This modern synthesis is currently the most accepted explanation of the fact of evolution.
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| − | |Einstein's explanation of the fact of gravity is called ''The General theory of relativity''. ||The explanation of the fact of evolution provided by the modern synthesis is the latest and most widely accepted ''Theory of Evolution''.
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| − | !style="background:#d0e5f5;color:black" |Gravity is a fact and a theory.!!style="background:#d0e5f5;color:black" |Evolution is a fact and a theory.
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| − | |}
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| | == Variation and Randomness == | | == Variation and Randomness == |