Darwinism and popular culture: Homo erectus, homo habilis, and Alley Oop

Mustafa Akyol recently noted in "A farewell to homo habilis - a modern icon" in Turkish Daily News that the story regarding human ancestors has greatly changed in the last few years:

These various categories of "human ancestors" look quite convincing and appealing when “reconstructed” and put into a gradual sequence, but when scientific details are examined, it is really not easy to explain how one evolved into the other. One big problem that some paleoanthropologists have noted is the big gap between Homo habilis, which is very much like a big ape, and Homo erectus, which can be considered as a unique, but yet still genuine, human.

Indeed, some responsible sources think that Homo habilis was an ape-asaurus, if you please, and others note that Homo erectus, like Adam and Eve, currently lacks identifiable ancestors. Mustafa goes on,

Now, the reason why I am telling you all about this is an important discovery made two weeks ago in Kenya by Meave Leakey, the veteran paleontologist. The bones that Mrs. Leakey and her colleagues have found really shakes the standard evolution story, because they prove that Homo habilis and Homo erectus, which are supposed to be two different phases of human evolution, actually coexisted for at least half a million years.
"It's the equivalent of finding that your grandmother and great-grandmother were sisters rather than mother-daughter,” said paleontologist Fred Spoor, according to an Associated Press report. The AP news story added that this surprising finding “makes it unlikely that Homo erectus evolved from Homo habilis.” Moreover, it “discredits that iconic illustration of human evolution that begins with a knuckle-dragging ape and ends with a briefcase-carrying man.”

Indeed, the Darwinian evolutionist's story of human origins is always changing. That wouldn't matter except that heaven help you if you doubt them or can't even remember their current cast iron "truths" about human origins.

It feels somewhat like living among fundamentalists EXCEPT that, instead of sticking with a Bible that hasn't changed much over the millennia, Darwinists put out a NEW Bible on human origins every other year. New discoveries are always overturning paradigms, though just how something gets to be a paradigm and then is overturned next season is beyond me. Here in Toronto, we call those kinds of ideas fads.

The old-fashioned sort of fundamentalist is easier to avoid than the Darwinist. Just memorize the key Bible verses (which won't change, any more than math will) and decide what to make of it all on your own time. Do not sign up to receive tracts or visits and you're free and clear. Unlike the Darwinist, the fundamentalist will not try to wreck your career if you question him.

For a gallery of knuckle-draggers to straphangers, and other Darwinism-related humour, go here. Personally, I think Alley Oop is the best bet yet.

Brand new site explains Darwinian evolution: With a pinch of salt

Catch this hilarious site, sending up the evolution sites sponsored by museums. Don't drink coffee while you are reading it, and be sure to check in with the megamaximum fauna whose very shadows weighed 500 lbs ...

P.S.: Light blogging due to the fact that I am still working on the revisions for the upcoming book, but that will end soon. - d.

If you like this blog, check out my book on the intelligent design controversy, By Design or by Chance?. You can read excerpts as well.

Are you looking for one of the following stories?

A summary of tech guru George Gilder's arguments for ID and against Darwinism

A critical look at why March of the Penguins was thought to be an ID film.

A summary of recent opinion columns on the ID controversy

A summary of recent polls of US public opinion on the ID controversy

A summary of the Catholic Church's entry into the controversy, essentially on the side of ID.

O'Leary's intro to non-Darwinian agnostic philosopher David Stove’s critique of Darwinism.

An ID Timeline: The ID folk seem always to win when they lose.

O’Leary’s comments on Francis Beckwith, a Dembski associate, being denied tenure at Baylor.

Why origin of life is such a difficult problem.

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Take a Coffee Break Now

Herd of Kansas Darwinists Endangered, Conservationists Warn

This is the funniest — and yet the truest — account of the current Kansas school board hearings that I have seen. (Scroll down till you come to the endangered herd of Darwinists.) It perfectly matches the Darwinists’ view of themselves as an endangered species that the world has an obligation to protect. Enjoy.

Natural Selection Shrinks Herd of Kansas Darwinists

by Scott Ott

(2005-05-03) -- Elderly residents still recall stories of the dust clouds that rolled through Salina as herds of Darwinists thundered across the Kansas plains unchallenged by competition -- unquestionably dominating, and some say destroying, their environment.

But as selective pressures mounted, Darwinists forced to fend for themselves in the natural arena of logic often fell prey to scrappy skeptics who contended for equal space in the Darwinist's natural habitat.

Some celebrate the success of the skeptics as healthy for the overall environment, while concerned conservationists race against the clock to raise funds and public awareness to rescue and shelter the Darwinist.

Personally, I’m waiting until the Franklin Mint miniatures come out. Even the Darwnists can look cute inside those little glass globes that you shake, and the snow falls and it plays a tune .... maybe a tune with a name like "The Design of Life."

By the way, telling everyone how unhappy they are that some people do not accept their theory has not always helped the Darwinists. For a funny review of loose lips that sink ships, read Mark Hartwig’s "Busted!"