Wednesday, November 15, 2006

E is for Evolution!


It's a simple concept, evolution. In order for an organism to pass its genes to the next generation, it has to survive long enough to procreate. If a random mutation makes the organism slightly more suited to the environment it finds itself in, it has a better chance of passing on those genes. But it's a double edged sword! If there's something in the organism's genetic makeup that makes it slightly less suited to survive (say, the stick-your-tongue-in-a-lamp-socket gene, for instance) that organism has less chance of passing on its genes. Now, I'm not saying the scene depicted here necessarily ends with the demise of this guy. I mean, people do some pretty dumb stuff and live to tell about it. The point is that whatever it is in this guy's makeup that enables him to try this little experiment has GOT to be a serious evolutionary disadvantage. If this particular activity doesn't remove him from the gene pool, something similar probably will. If, on the other hand, you are a Creationist, and don't believe in evolution, you have to figure that God wouldn't let this sort of shenanigans go unpunished. See, it works either way!

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