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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