My Darwin Revelation

“The human brain is just an outdated computer that needs a faster processor and a bigger hard drive.” (www.theatlantic.com) My revelation came when the topic of evolution was brought up in class. With the little information that I was taught about in private school and public school I was not able to form an opinion of my own until this heated topic came up in the classroom this semester. “’Will you honestly tell me (and I should be really much obliged) whether you believe that the shape of my nose was ordained and ‘guided by an intelligent cause?’’” (Appleman 601) The idea of intelligent design was thought up by Michael Behe and this theory is just one of many that I have found intriguing and actually made me want to take a side on this continuous argument in science. “The ideas of ‘creation science’ derive from the conviction that God created the universe-including humans and other living things-all at once in the relatively recent past.” (Appleman 617) The thought that everything is pre planned and organized before we, as humans, could have any affect on the outcome is just mind boggling to me. As a student that is now in college and went through high school biology and chemistry classes, I was never really taught much about the theory of evolution and how it is contemplated over constantly. No one can really claim anything yet and it always turns out to be science versus religion in this never-ending argument. I found this conversation to be the most interesting one that I have had in a classroom because there are so many varying opinions and everyone has done their research to back it up, yet there is still that constant conflict of who is right and who is wrong. I do not believe in the idea of intelligent design because I am a strong believer in the process of natural evolution.
This leads me to the article that was assigned to us previously. This article mentions, “ I think I know what’s going on. For more than a decade now, I’ve been spending a lot of time online, searching and surfing and sometimes adding to the great databases of the Internet. The Web has been a godsend to me as a writer. Research that once required days in the stacks or periodical rooms of libraries can now be done in minutes. A few Google searches, some quick clicks on hyperlinks, and I’ve got the telltale fact or pithy quote I was after”. (www.theatlantic.com) After many years of evolution, I believe that humans have become numb to the idea of researching beyond a website. Instead of someone being asked a question and researching it fully by talking to others and/or reading a piece of text, we can now type our question in via google.com and the answer will magically appear instantly in front of us. I believe that this has made humans lazy but not stupid. We are still gaining the knowledge that we learn from the internet but instead of retaining it or writing it down for later usage, we just keep it for the moment we need it and then discard of the “unnecessary information” when it is no longer needed. “The Internet, an immeasurably powerful computing system, is subsuming most of our other intellectual technologies. It’s becoming our map and our clock, our printing press and our typewriter, our calculator and our telephone, and our radio and TV.” (www.theatlantic.com)
However, this article on theatlantic.com states that “ fill with quote”.

All of these thoughts to come mind when I think of the process of evolution now because without humans being able to grow and become more knowledgeable about the world we all live in we wouldn’t have gotten as far as we have. Even though I do not believe in the ideas of intelligent design, that could change in the future because all I need is hard proof and that is what the science side of this argument has given me. Even though humans have grown in intelligence levels, I think that technology will hurt us more in the end than to help us. I doubt that it will happen any time soon but I see it happening already. Machinery has been taking over jobs in the hospital and in the factories all around the United States and of course, all around the world. A person using Google.com to help answer their questions is just the beginning of how lazy humans may possibly become. I hope that I am wrong in expecting this for future generations but with all of the reading and research that I have done, I feel that this is in the future for humans.

YouTube Video

The link above is a video that I found on YouTube.com and it shows how technology is being used i nthe classroom. It is interesting and gives a positive spin on the turnout of technology and its great uses. I chose to use this because it shows that technology is taking over hard text books in the classroom and in the world around us. The high school that I went to my freshman year was going completely digital the following year with smart boards and no more text books being brought into class. I think that this is a great eye opener for those who look down upon technology in the future but it also shows how much we, as students and as people, rely on it in the end.



Works Cited
Carr, Nicholas. “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” The Atlantic. 2007. http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200907/google

Cascio, Jamais. “Get Smarter.” The Atlantic, July/August 2009 http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200907/intelligence

Dorit, Robert. “Review of Behe” in Darwin. 3rd ed. Phillip Appleman, ed. New York: W.W.Norton, 2001.

National Academy of the Sciences. “Frequently Asked Questions about Evolution and the Nature of Science.” In Darwin. 3rd ed. Phillip Appleman, ed. New York: W.W.Norton, 2001

"YouTube - Technology In the Classroom." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. Bennettlucky. Web. 27 Nov. 2009. .