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Well, it doesn't.

The age old question of "Where do we come from?" is not an easy one to answer. However, the answer is not to simplify it. As an atheist/agnostic (i don't think the difference matters), i think that it is irresponsible to reject the prevailing scientific theory of evolution simply because it is impossible to map out exactly how it works. Most Americans cannot tell you exactly how a television works, but they know that if they turn it on, Dr. Phil will be there. Evolution is simply far and away the most provable hypothesis for why we're here.

The simplest, most immediately accessible examples are microbiological organisms such as bacteria and viruses. Say I have a petri dish full of streptococcus pyrogenes, the strain of bacteria that causes strep throat. If i were to introduce an antibiotic such as penicillin to this dish, all of the bacteria would die, right? Wrong. Most would die, but some stronger or more resistant bacteria would remain. These bacteria would then reproduce, and if i were wait until there numbers were the same as before and then add my penicillin again, nothing would happen. That phenomenon is referred to as natural selection, or survival of the fittest. The bacteria have evolved. (The reason that these bacteria would not carry on in a real human body is that our immune system is able to adapt to kill those last few cells that the penicillin couldn't take care of). This explains why it is very important that one follow the doctor's prescription completely as well as why we need to keep developing new antibiotics to fight the ever evolving strains of microorganisms such as the famous H5N1 virus.
Now imagine that many millions of years ago (yes, millions) there were different groups of apes. As those apes migrated to different areas with different climates and food sources, some of them were able to thrive while weaker ones died off. As the weaker apes died and the stronger ones were able to reproduce and pass on their stronger genes, evolution occurred. No, your grand father was not an ape, and I would be a fool to tell you that he was. But hundreds of thousands or millions of years ago, your relatives were covered with hair foraging for berries and beating their chests.
One reason that people reject the theory of evolution is that there are still monkeys and apes all around the world. Well, they evolved too. Millions of years ago their ancestors surely looked quite different as well, only they evolved differently within their groups. One will notice the variation amongst human beings whose ancestors were from different parts of the world. Ever notice how when an Asian has children with a Caucasian the children look like a mixture of both races? That is because evolution has occurred yet again. Millions of years from now, if the sun is still around, humans will look very different from how we look now because as always, we are continuing to evolve.

Learn more about this author, Anton Bradwell.
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