Evolution Vs. Creationism


There are many ideas regarding how everything around us came to be. This should not be surprising. Human beings need questions to answer. It makes us feel like we are part of something bigger than ourselves. Every time we find answers we see that as a step toward that final comfortable place where we can be a bit more free from uncertainty. In terms of our own origins and those of our Universe, the main theories are Evolution and Creationism. This essay looks at both of these.

The theory of Evolution

The idea behind this is that everything we see around us began with a big bang in which the Universe was formed. It was tiny, hot and dense and over an incredibly long time period it expanded. Stars were born and died and clouds of gases formed and collapsed into themselves becoming planets. The planet that we are on, Earth or Terra, is merely one of the many in our solar system which circles our star, Sol. Over time the conditions on this planet became favorable enough for the oceans to sprout life which became more and more complex over millions of years, moved onto land and through a process of natural selection evolved into what we see today. Survival of the fittest meant that favorable mutations were eventually spread into the rest of the population of any group so that new species formed.

The alternate view: Creationism

Many religions have a version of this. There are almost as many creation stories as their are groups or tribes. In general they come down to this: everything we see around us was made by God or gods and goddesses by supernatural means. This answers the question of how life developed that is usually less clearly defined by evolution but it does not settle much because there is just as much motivation to a scientifically minded person to believe one creation story as any other. There are even cases where a religious leader may blend creationism with the concept that our world has evolved. This takes a more broad view of both religion and science.

There are slightly different views about the origin of our universe but these two are the most popular. It could just as easily be argued that all that we observe is part of an illusion that is being manifest by ultimate consciousness. This is merely a concept like any other.


2024 © Academic-Plus.com - Get your essay written with our guides.