We think we know that chimpanzees are higher animals and earthworms are lower, we think we've always known what that means, and we think evolution makes it even clearer. But it doesn't. It is by no means clear that it means anything at all. Or if it means anything, it means so many different things to be misleading, even pernicious. Richard Dawkins
About This Quote

Charles Darwin is known for his theory of evolution, the idea that all species of life have evolved over time from one another. Darwin thought that natural selection was the driving force behind this evolution. If you are any good at it, he said, then you will “survive in the struggle for existence” and pass your traits to your future descendents. However, biologists have recently discovered that if you look at the fossil record of life on earth, you will see that there is far more evidence for horizontal gene transfer than for vertical descent. Horizontal gene transfer refers to the transfer of genes between organisms through direct contact or through shared environments. Vertical descent refers to the idea that organisms evolve by adapting their traits to fit their environment, rather than inheriting information about their environment directly from previous generations. Darwin wrote in "The Origin of Species": "There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed into a few forms or into one; and that after having been used as means of subsistence by many generations of animals, sentinent for the purpose of giving existence to countless others; thus it has arrived at this state of perfection; only a blind chance would have given existence to any one form." These words were written more than 160 years ago…but they still ring true today.

Source: The Greatest Show On Earth: The Evidence For Evolution

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