Creationist Objections To Evolution - Defining Evolution

Defining Evolution

One of the main sources of confusion and ambiguity in the creation-evolution debate is the definition of evolution itself. In the context of biology, evolution is genetic changes in populations of organisms over successive generations. However, the word has a number of different meanings in different fields, from evolutionary computation to molecular evolution to sociocultural evolution to stellar and galactic evolution. It can even refer to metaphysical evolution, spiritual evolution, or any of a number of evolutionist philosophies. When biological evolution is conflated with other evolutionary processes, this can cause errors such as the claim that modern evolutionary theory says anything about abiogenesis or the Big Bang.

In colloquial contexts, evolution can refer to any sort of progressive development, and often bears a connotation of gradual improvement: here evolution is understood as a process that results in greater quality or complexity. This common definition, when misapplied to biological evolution, leads to frequent misunderstandings. For example, the idea of devolution ("backwards" evolution) is a result of erroneously assuming that evolution is directional or has a specific goal in mind (cf. orthogenesis). In reality, the evolution of an organism has no "objective" other than increasing the organism's ability to survive and reproduce in its environment; and its suitability is only defined in relation to this environment. Biologists do not consider any one species, such as humans, to be more highly evolved or advanced than another. Certain sources have been criticized for indicating otherwise due to a tendency to evaluate nonhuman organisms according to anthropocentric standards rather than more objective ones.

Evolution also does not require that organisms become more complex. Although the history of life shows an apparent trend towards the evolution of complexity; there is a question if this appearance of increased complexity is real, or if this conclusion comes from neglecting the fact that the majority of life on earth has always consisted of prokaryotes. In this view, complexity is not a necessary consequence of evolution; rather, it is a consequence of the specific circumstances of evolution on Earth, which frequently made greater complexity advantageous, and thus naturally selected for. Depending on the situation, organisms' complexity can either increase, decrease, or stay the same, and all three of these trends have been observed in evolution.

Creationist sources frequently define evolution according to a colloquial, rather than scientific, meaning. As a result, many attempts to rebut evolution do not address the findings of evolutionary biology (see straw man argument). This also means that advocates of creationism and evolutionary biologists often simply speak past each other.