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"Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?"

"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," said the Cat.

"I don't much care where," said Alice.

"Then it doesn't matter which way you go."

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
(forgot author's name)

I'm seriously asking: Where is evolution supposed to be taking us? It's my understanding that we are supposedly "evolving" to a higher state physically and in our behavior. If this is a correct (albeit elementary) explanation of evolution, then what is the ultimate end?

No matter what the age of the earth, from approximately 4,000 to 6,000 years old (which is my belief) to upwards of 10 million years, exactly how long do evolutionists think it should take us to evolve into highly intelligent, absolutely compassionate beings who've eradicated hate, war, disease, and cruelty? I'm seriously asking: How long? Can you look me in the eye (or whatever the equivalent would be in cyberspace!) and tell me that 4,000 years is not enough to see significant evolution??? How long do you think it's going to take to get to...where is it again that evolution promises to take us??

In The God That Failed, novelist Arthur Koestler wrote of his initial excitement and belief in communism and his ultimate disillusionment in it in these biblical terms: "I served the Communist Party for seven years -- the same length of time as Jacob tended Laban's sheep to win Laban's daughter, Rachel. When the time was up, the bride was led into Jacob's dark tent; only the next morning did Jacob discover that his ardors had been spent not on the lovely Rachel, but on the ugly Leah."

I'm seriously asking: Where is evolution supposed to be taking us? It's my understanding that we are supposedly "evolving" to a higher state physically and in our behavior. If this is a correct (albeit elementary) explanation of evolution, then what is the ultimate end?

I'm glad you asked, because your question reveals that your teachers have done a real job of professional malpractice in teaching you. Evolution isn't "taking us" anywhere. It's a description of how populations change over time. The population changes because individuals (some of whom have mutated genes) either die without offspring (thus taking their genes out of the pool) or they survive long enough to spawn a new generation (thus keeping their genes in the pool). That's it. That's the whole ball of wax. Over time, we get the world of various species that we see -- including us. We, however, are intelligent to decide for ourselves where we're going, so the evolution process is going to be radically different where we're concerned.

I'm seriously answering: Your entire question presupposes claims not in evidence. "Evolving" has nothing to do with "higher" or "lower", just different; comparing and contrasting a crow with a crocus would elucidate the point. There is no "end," ultimate or otherwise. (If it's not ultimate, it isn't the end.) Evolutionary theory is about process, not about "ends" or "higher" or "lower."