Blog Post Module 1: Reflection

When I think of evolution the first thing that comes to mind is adaptation. Growing up and learning about evolution I never fully understood 100% what it was or how it was determined. I always thought that it was very similar to natural selection, but I now know that is not the case. It seems as if natural selection drives the events of evolution. I think the perfect definition of evolution is the changing of genetics to adapt to an environment over time. I think evolution is unclear to many people including myself because it is a very long and invisible process. I am a very visual learner and that is why it is harder to understand. Evolution is also not just one thing, it is an assortment of many different parts that makes it harder to understand. Something that came up in class was evolution being described as survival of the fittest. This to me doesn't necessarily mean the biggest, more muscular, fastest organism will survive. I have learned that survival of the fittest relates more to the type of environment the organism lives in. For example, the color of the organism could be a whole lot more important than the speed of it in a given environment. 

I know there is some controversy over the point of evolution being a fact or theory. I personally think that evolution is a theory. I do believe that evolution is occurring and has occurred all throughout history, but I still say it is a theory because it is always changing. It is hard to declare evolution as a fact because there are still so many things that we do not know and so many things that are changing. To me a theory means that there is no dead-end fact. In class today this point did get brought up and was said that evolution is both a fact and a theory. After learning this I can see why that is being said. I see and believe that evolution is happening; is it a fact that evolution has taken place all throughout history, but evolution in itself is still uncertain. There are still many things that scientists and researchers do not know, so that is why I say that evolution is a theory. 

Comments

  1. Gretchen GrahamSeptember 1, 2021 at 9:03 AM

    Hi Megan!

    I had not even thought about evolution being related to natural selection. I think they have similarities but are also very different. I really like your definition of relating it to genetics. Why do you think it takes so long for things to evolve? I do agree that evolution is a theory because we do know that evolution has occurred which is a fact but it is also still happening like you said. Great post!

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  2. Evolution: Haley JonesSeptember 2, 2021 at 4:42 PM

    Hi Megan,
    I agree with your idea that evolution is sometimes hard to conceptualize if we take it on as such a big process that takes so many years and is minute changes. One way that I have been able to understand is through looking at bacterial adaptations or more specifically the development of antibiotic resistance because the generation times are so short that the changes in genetic material seem to occur much quicker. I think your ideas about natural selection being a big driver of evolution are very true because it seems that is a big environmental factor that can influence the prevalence of these new mutations in a population.

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  3. Tatum MeyerSeptember 7, 2021 at 11:38 AM

    Hey Megan!
    I really enjoyed getting read about your perspective on evolution. I also think a lot about adaptation when I think of evolution, but I had not really thought of evolution as being similar to natural selection. I really like your definition of evolution, I think it's a great explanation that is easy to understand. Do you think that there will ever be a point where we actually start to fully understand evolution and can begin to see how life may have originated?

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