[goldstategop]

True. We're basically a brainier, naked species of chimpanzee. If we still had the fur chimps have, no one would go around claiming we weren't related. Its factual evidence of the existence of evolution as a mechanism for species selection, adaptation, and survival in a given environment. Charles Darwin's genius was to develop natural selection as an empirically testable theory through bringing together unrelated strands of evidence into a coherent whole. His theory has been revised, most notably by Stephen J. Gould in his recent 1,500 page tome The Structure Of Evolutionary Theory, but the central Darwinian edifice still remains standing, because no one has found a better explanation for the diversity of life on earth and why organisms seem so suited for their particular niche in nature. It should be added here the importance of evolution lies not in its discussion of ultimate origins, on which it is silent, but rather in its acceptance of nature as it is and not as we human beings would like to think it is. The rest of creation is amoral and operates in ways that offend our sensibilities. We don't have to deny God created the universe, the world, and life in it, but when we look at life on earth since its emergence, we come to realize that it doesn't play favorites and there have been species that existed that for various reasons have vanished. The mechanism of evolution forces us puny humans to wake up to the fact that for all of our resourcefulness and cleverness, there is no guarantee we won't become extinct in the future. No wonder people feel threatened by Darwin's theory; its an uncomfortable reminder that we're guided by biologic forces as old as life itself as well as by the sum of our behaviorial choices. So whether we like it or not, the fact remains evolution is a fact and it has to be admitted that Charles Darwin remains the greatest biologist who ever lived.

[gore3000]

True. We're basically a brainier, naked species of chimpanzee.

No we are not. There is far more than a difference in degree between man and chimp, there is a difference in kind. The human ability and indeed need to communicate, is not found in any other species. The human ability and indeed need of art for art's sake is not found in any other species. The heights of scientific achievement of humans are not even dreamt of by any other species.