Letter to the Editor

Editor,

Evolution is a well-supported theory, not a guess. A scientist would never say that evolution “does not have a scientific leg to stand on” so it surprises me that the author of “Evolution More of a Guess Than a Fact” begins his argument with this statement. (Ask any professor in the USU Biology department if they agree with the author.) True, we don’t know everything that there is to know about evolution. But this means that we have gaps to fill in, not that the theory is unfounded or false.

Yes, Haeckel’s depiction of embryos was fraudulent. If you want to claim that evolution is scientifically impossible, don’t use one bad apple to tarnish the outstanding work of other scientists. It’s beside the point and inappropriate. Moreover, there is plenty of misrepresentation in creationist literature.

To say that mutations “never give an improvement over the original [trait]” and then cite several harmful modern day mutations is misleading. You can’t make an unconditional statement like “never” based on what we observe now when you are speaking in terms of billions of years.

To see something that “comes close” to humans “producing a species” note the phenotypic variety of dogs in your neighborhood. Certainly comparing a Saint Bernard to a dachshund comes pretty close to demonstrating what could happen naturally over millions of years.

The research supporting evolution done at USU alone would not fit into a cardboard box. I don’t know what the reference is for this comment but it must be pre-1859 (Darwin’s notes for “On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection” wouldn’t fit either).

It is interesting that the author says that religion “solves this debate” since it is religion that is keeping this debate going. Humankind is past needing myths to explain our existence. The theory of evolution is well supported, logical, and explains our existence without resorting to the supernatural. You can ignore the evidence for it in hopes of rewards in the afterlife but I can’t imagine a god that would encourage or approve of this type of willful ignorance.

Brian Gladu