Page 653 - Mastermind: The Truth of the British Deep State Revealed

Adnan Harun Yahya

Lamarck's Fallacy

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 dur-

ing their lifetime to the next generation. He asserted that these traits, which ac-
cumulated 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 gen-

eration.

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. (Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species: A Fac-

simile of the First Edition, Harvard University Press, 1964, p. 184.)

However, the laws of inheritance discovered by Gregor Mendel (1822-84)
and verified by the science of genetics, which flourished in the twentieth cen-

tury, utterly demolished the legend that acquired traits were passed on to sub-
sequent generations. Thus, natural selection was left 'alone' and consequently

rendered completely ineffective as an evolutionary mechanism.

ALSE

F

Lamarck claimed that giraffes evolved from a
species similar to antelopes and that their necks
grew longer while they were trying to eat the
leaves of high trees. However, this claim of
Lamarck's is refuted by scientific findings and
took its place in history as a false assumption.