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Harun Yahya (Adnan Oktar)
anism of "natural selection." The
importance he placed on this
mechanism was evident in the
name of his book: The Origin of
Species, By Means of Natural
Selection…
Natural selection holds that
those living things that are
stronger and more suited to the
natural conditions of their habi-
tats 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 evo-
lutionary 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 dif-
ferences or variations occur. 70
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 bi-
ologist Chevalier de Lamarck (1744-1829), who lived before
Darwin, living creatures passed on the traits they acquired dur-
ing their lifetime to the next generation. He asserted that these
traits, which accumulated from one generation to another, caused
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