The question that people have debated for decades: Intelligent design, or evolution? I think that it was both. Though evolution is undeniably real, I think that it would be impossible for life, at its current level, to come about purely through evolution without a driving force.
First of all, there is a difference between Creationism and the theory of intelligent design. I actually looked this up on http://www.dictionary.com, muahaha. Creationism is the belief that the universe was created according to the story in Genesis, in the Bible. It says that living things were created the way they are now, rather than developing over time.
Intelligent design, however, is merely the "theory that nature and complex biological structures were designed by intelligent beings and were not created by chance" (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/intelligent%20design).
The reason why I don't believe that all life on Earth evolved spontaneously is that there are many problems with this theory. First of all, the main idea is that living organisms resulted from a series of random, spontaneous events of natural selection and mutations. However, I don't think that that is possible. For example, this theory would mean that long, long ago, some clump of organelles had mutations that allowed them to function together as a cell, survive, and reproduce. I think that this would be impossible because organisms with mutations that are progressing towards a positive evolutionary change would die out before the evolving mechanism is perfected. They would be unable to reproduce at the rate that is required for such drastic evolution to take place.
Spontaneous evolution is also unable to answer several natural phenomenons. Some examples are emotions, instincts, and human intellect.
Emotions are things that cannot be explained by scientific means. How can you explain why you love someone? Compassion is more than just a chemical reaction in the brain. There is no gene that specifies every emotion that you will ever experience.
Animal instincts are also unexplainable. Sea turtles lay their eggs on the shore and then abandon them. When the newborns hatch, their instincts tell them to return to the sea though they have no prior experiences in life that tell them to do so. How can this be explained? I think that this is proof that there is a higher power that designed the organisms living on Earth.
The
human intellect is also, to me, proof of intelligent design. As opposed to animals, we as humans make conscious choices according to our morals and what we think is just. We are able to question our choices and weigh right and wrong. Why are we able to do this while animals, insects, and plants cannot? The fact that I included plants in that question is weird, but when you think about it...If all life evolved from a common source, then how come plants didn't get brains too? If evolution is, as my hated AP bio textbook says, a perpetual, gradual process, then why aren't we seeing plants that are gradually developing conscious minds? Why didn't all monkeys evolve into humans? Why aren't we seeing monkeys that are gradually attaining more human characteristics?
However, I don't deny the fact that natural selection and evolution are really happening in our world today. There is more than enough evidence of that. It is pure logic that all species evolve as a result of natural selection. The individuals that are less genetically advantaged are obviously going to produce less offspring or die before reproducing. Thus the unfit genes eventually disappear from the gene pool and the surviving genes are those that promote a more fit individual that is able to reproduce and survive. That makes pure sense. I just don't think that evolution was the lone creator of life.
According to the Big Bang Theory, the universe originally consisted of a single point of matter, called the singularity. All the matter was compacted in this singularity. Then, it exploded, producing matter and planets blah blah blah. This seems incredibly unlikely to me; it seems as preposterous as the idea that an intelligent being created the universe. However, even if the Big Bang Theory is true, it still comes down to the question of where the singularity originated from. Just as the question of where God came from. And no one has the answer; we can only say it just WAS.
Personally, I think that an intelligent God created our world, our galaxy, maybe even our universe. No one knows where our universe begins or ends, and there are most likely other universes in addition to ours. I think that this God used science to create our world. After all, he had to create atoms, molecules, elements, cells, gravity, the laws of physics, etc. I think that science and theology can coexist to explain the origin of our world. Therefore, I think that God used evolution as a mechanism to propel the growth of life. As the world changes, the species on it have to change as well. However, the Earth won't last forever, which could explain why species are devolving and life is becoming more chaotic.
Though I believe in intelligent design, I don't believe that the Earth is 6,000 years old like many Christians do. There may be six thousand years of history, but I think that the Earth is likely much older than that. Taking it from a Christian point of view, it is very likely that Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden for a long time while the outside world was evolving and changing. Because they were supposedly immortal while they were living in the garden, we can see that it is possible that they lived there for maybe even thousands of years. The Bible makes it seem like Adam was created, a couple days later Eve was created, and a couple days later Eve ate the Forbidden Fruit that has damned us all. I don't think that Eve would really have been so quick to transgress, I think that she ate the fruit after a long time of having nothing else to do. I mean, if you were locked in an empty room with a button on the wall that said DON'T PUSH, eventually you would push the button, right? So I think that the evidence suggests that while Adam and Eve were in the garden, the surrounding world was evolving and changing (dinosaurs and stufffffff). We simply don't know how long they remained in the garden, which allows for the evolution of our Earth, as well as religious beliefs and scientific beliefs to coexist harmonically.
Many people reject the idea of intelligent design because there is simply no solid evidence or proof. To me, the fact that I am thinking and writing this blog are evidence enough that something divine created life. I don't believe that I am merely a large mass of functioning cells. Besides, there is also no definite proof that evolution alone created life, because there are still missing links on the fossil record that are supposed to connect certain species together. There is still much proof that needs to be acquired. If a person can believe the Big Bang Theory, then I think that they also possess the capacity to believe in something as preposterous as Creationism. There simply cannot be a single origin of time, because there must always be something before it. Therefore, the idea of negative infinity is equally as valid as the idea of positive infinity. I think that existence has always been, because life is, after all, a circle. Life has existed for eternity, though not necessarily on this Earth. When you realize that life could only have come from eternity, you also realize that eternity could not exist without something divine. Therefore, everything comes down to God, and the God who created God, and the God who created that God...for eternity.
However, the issue comes up whether or not evolution and intelligent design should be taught in schools. Currently, we are taught that evolution is the means by which life came to be. Teachers are not allowed to teach Creationism because religion cannot be taught in schools. I agree that Creationism should not be taught in schools because it follows a few specific religions' ideas, while there are many other religions that teach different ideas about how the world came to be. However, the theory of evolution is part of science, so it should be taught. Since I believe that evolution does not necessarily contradict religion, I think that it should be taught in schools. The students should just be made aware that certain ideas are theories. Then they can make their own conclusions about how the universe developed.