Page 85 - The Little Man in the Tower
P. 85
Harun Yahya - Adnan Oktar
Natural selection holds that those living things that are stronger and more
suited to the natural conditions of their habitats will survive in the struggle
for life. For example, in a deer herd under the threat of attack by wild
animals, those that can run faster will survive. Therefore, the deer herd will
be comprised of faster and stronger individuals. However, unquestionably,
this mechanism will not cause deer to evolve and transform themselves into
another living species, for instance, horses.
Therefore, the mechanism of natural selection has no evolutionary
power. Darwin was also aware of this fact and had to state this in his book
The Origin of Species:
Natural selection can do nothing until favourable individual
differences or variations occur. 10
Lamarck’s Impact
So, how could these "favorable variations" occur? Darwin tried to
answer this question from the standpoint of the primitive understanding of
science at that time. According to the French biologist Chevalier de
Lamarck (1744-1829), who lived before Darwin, living creatures passed on
the traits they acquired during their lifetime to the next generation. He
asserted that these traits, which accumulated from one generation to another,
caused new species to be formed. For instance, he claimed that giraffes
evolved from antelopes; as they struggled to eat the leaves of high trees,
their necks were extended from generation to generation.
Darwin also gave similar examples. In his book The Origin of Species,
for instance, he said that some bears going into water to find food
transformed themselves into whales over time. 11
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