If Atheists claim we evolved from Apes, then why is it that..?

Question

1.) Apes of all kinds still exist?

If we evolved from a different species of Apes who don't exist today, then..
a.) What was the species of that ape?
b.) Wouldn't we all be the same skin color?
i.) If you claim we evolved from different species, then wouldn't humans be different species within themselves?
ii.) And what were the species of those different species of apes?
c.) How did we evolve? Chemical reactions?
i.) If so, then where and what did the chemical reactions come from?
ii.) Why were only a certain species of apes selected?

2.) Why did human who evolved from those apes go to war?

Because of uncertainty or loss of memory?
a.) How did we lose our memory?
b.) Why were there different nations of people, if we only evolved from one species of apes if you claimed so?

I'd like a Atheist to answer these questions. Truth is, you can't. Simply because we never evolved from Apes to begin with.

Answer 1

*sigh*

Don't confuse support for evolution with Atheism. It is not the same thing.

And you are completely right. We never evolved from apes. We just evolved from COMMON ANCESTORS. You're saying your brother turned into you, pretty much, instead of just saying you two have the same parents.



The answer to B and C are the same...adaptation. All evolution is (generally) is adaptation over a long period of time. We adapt to the environment we live in. Black skin (from Africa) helps block out the sun. Different species evolved to suit where they live.

Answer 2

Well, first of all, the idea we evolved FROM apes is a little misleading since taxonomically, we're still apes. We're just one of the kinds of apes that exist today.



a) Our direct ancestors are australopithecus, home habilis, homo erectus, homo ergastus, etc... All of these had the ability (gradually acquired, by the way), to stand upright and to make tools.

b) You seem to be confusing species and race. A race is not a movement towards another species. It's a variation within a species. Species evolve together very gradually. Race has nothing to do with it, which is why animals of the same species but different races may reproduce freely.

c) In part by random mutations (which we all have), and in part through natural selection (the favoring of profitable characteristics).



2) Why is there war? Well, obviously aggression is part of the make-up of our species. With today's technology, it may well be an atavism (an inherited characteristic whose effects are now negative).



a and b) We dispersed all over the world. Look at the difference between English in Britain and English in America. Culture is not reproduced intactly from one generation to the next. It just doesn't happen.

Answer 3

1. Because the evolution of humans was triggered by a small population of apes moving to a new environment to which they were ill-suited. Those who remained in the environment to which they were well-suited, did not change as much.



a. Not known, but it was most probably similar to a modern chimpanzee.

b. No, different skin colours are suited to different environments.

i. We evolved from the same ancestor species.

ii. N/A.

c. Because babies are not identical clones of their parents. Some of the little differences help their survival chances and some harm their survival chances. The ones who have the best chance of survival pass on their genes to the next generation.

i. Intrinsic properties of matter.

ii. Because only that species of apes climbed down from the trees onto the open grassy plains.



2. Question makes no sense.

Answer 4

Evolution is not what pokemon told you it was. There is no end result in plan, there is only reaction to changes in environment, changes that happen by errors in the mitosis process of our cells if my high school bio memory is correct.

The spices of ape is extinct, it no longer exists

no we would not be, because we had breed with similar groups for thousands of years and produced similar populations with similar traits, traits pass on to offspring.

Umm...We are a different species, we are a unique species. Or do you mean are there other species of human? There WERE! They are extinct now. Ever heard of Neanderthal?

Those different species of ape were in the hominid family, there are many examples. Google them.

We evolved by mutation. Yes, it is largely Chemical.

They came from many things, our offspring often have genetic changes to them that their parents did not have. Sometimes the process of cells dividing causes errors in our DNA, and therefore changes. Some of these changes are bad, and give you cancer, most don't really affect our species, some do good things, things that make a more tough breed.

None were "selected", some species just were in the right time and the right place and were able to survive and have babies that passed on the traits of toughness.

Animals don't just kill out of hunger, plenty of animals species, mainly mammals, fight out of what can only be described as "hate". Apes do it all of the time. Some population of chimps fight wars with others, for the same reasons we do!! Access to resources. Smaller groups of apes do not fight, because that is an ape trait. Large groups loose the connection we have. That is why people in cities are jerks, and people who grow up together dont often fight. Animals fight wars, humans too.

Memory is not passed from one person to his or her children. Do you remember anything your parents experienced before you were born?

There are many populations of people like there are many populations of apes. Did you think that there was only one group of chimps? Not so. Different beehives, different whale pods that even speak different languages. There is an Atlantic sperm whale dialect and a pacific one. In the old days, some populations became big, and probably split up.



I am a Buddhist, I don't really count as an atheist, even though I do not believe in any deity.

I just answered your questions, so you are wrong. the truth is WE CAN. We evolved from apes, it is clear. Lean about it. Study it. It will make sense. Plenty of Muslims believe in it too.

Answer 5

Atheists don't claim anything. We simply don't believe your outrageous claims about magical gods, because you can't show any evidence that there's any such thing.



Biology, through the gathering of evidence, acquiring of knowledge, and through experiment and observation, shows a great deal of evidence that apes and humans shared a common ancestor (not that we evolved from apes). That common ancestor, from which both humans and apes evolved, lived about 4-7 million years ago. The apes around today are not THAT common ancestor, apes went their way in evolution, we went ours. Separate paths.



The rest of your questions are rather silly, and show a great deal of ignorance concerning evolution, anthropology, sociology, human history, and lots of other subjects. Ignorance is curable -- you can fix that condition by getting some education. Time to get started.



Peace.

Answer 6

Everybody evolved from apes, including Christians, Muslims, Jews etc.

Answer 7

Some of your questions are so very basic that you really should be consulting a book or introductory website instead of coming here and asking us to teach all this to you. I'll address some of your points. I recommend you check out talkorigins.org and also perhaps pick up a copy of Richard Dawkins' book The Greatest Show on Earth.



1 Apes still exist because they evolved in to the species of ape that they evolved in to, and we evolved into the species of ape that we evolved in to. The purpose of evolution is not to make people. Also, many modern organisms are similar to many prehistoric ones that other organisms evolved from. For example, the evolutionary history of modern humans includes primitive single-celled organisms, primitive chordates, fish, amphibians, reptiles, and other mammals and yet animals that would be classified in these categories still exist today.



a. Some probable human ancestors include those shown here: http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/comdesc/hominids.html

Their names are listed at the bottom.



b. Skin color is an adaptation to environment. Most early human ancestors would have had dark skin as they had adapted to the harsh African sun. When we moved into Europe and other climates the increased levels of melanin in our skin hindered the production of vitamin D because the sunlight was much less intense. Lighter skin was an adaptation of this.



i. Humans are different species from the non-humans we evolved from. I'm not sure what you mean by "different within ourselves" If a group of humans became isolated from the rest of us for a million years it is possible that over such a long period of time they could evolve into something we would consider non-human.



ii. I believe I already addressed this above.



c. You really should have done at least a few minutes of research before asking this. When organisms reproduce the DNA is copied. During this process, subtle mutations in the DNA can be introduced that manifest as slightly different physical traits in the offspring. This is why all people don't look alike. In the wild, these traits can benefit the survival of the organism or hinder it. Traits that increase survivability will increase in a population since those organisms will be more likely to reproduce and pass the trait to their offspring. These subtle changes accumulate over time possibly leading to a very different organism than the one you started with.



i. the genetic mutations occur because biological processes aren't perfect. Exposure to ultraviolet light, nuclear radiation, and certain chemicals can damage DNA also.



ii. When an animal is very suited to it's environment, new traits may be more likely to hinder that animals ability to survive. If an animal is not suited to its environment, then new traits may be necessary. Other apes have been evolving for just as long as we have, but we seem to have undergone more drastic changes and this was probably out of necessity for survival in the unsuitable environment we found ourselves in. That is why the ancestors in our lineage were "selected"



2. I would say because despite our advanced intelligence we still unfortunately retain remnants of our evolutionary past which causes us to desire to obtain and defend territory and to fear things that are unknown. We are driven by the same base, primitive instincts that our primitive ancestors were. We still have a long way to go to become totally rational beings.



a. I have no idea what you mean here.



b. the differences in race are the result of those changes and adaptions that cause evolution. Different populations of humans used to be mostly isolated from other populations. Different traits emerged and accumulated in certain populations causing the subtle variations of different races that we see today.





"I'd like a Atheist to answer these questions. Truth is, you can't. Simply because we never evolved from Apes to begin with."



As I have shown you are clearly wrong. Science has been studying evolution for 150 years and we have mountains of evidence supporting it. We have dinosaurs with feathers and fish with feet. We've mapped the genome of humans and chimps and they are 96% identical. There have been numerous hominid fossil discoveries. We even have fossils that show the migration of the blow hole up to the top of the head in modern whales and of the development of the horse hoof. Genetic mutations have been observed. Natural selection has been observed.



Evolution, based on all current available information, is a fact.

Answer 8

This is a science question, not a religious one.



1) If Americans came from Europe, why do Europeans still exist?

a) Seeing how Homo Sapiens Sapiens (us) is a species of ape....Well, the species that Homo Sapiens Sapiens evolved from was Homo Sapiens.

b) Not when Homo Sapiens Sapiens live in different environments. Different environments naturally select for different traits.

i) Homo Sapiens Sapiens evolved from a single species. No one claims we evolved from different species. That's not how evolution works.

ii) Again, your premise is wrong, so the question is wrong.

c) Genetic mutation and natural selection.

i) Genetic mutation. Copies of copies of copies tend to differ now and again.

ii) Because those who weren't suited to their environments didn't live long enough to reproduce.



2) Animals tend to fight over resources and mates. Humans aren't much different.

a) What?

b) Because animals have this crazy tendency to move.

Answer 9

First, atheists don't claim we evolved from apes. Thats the theory of evolution.



1. "Ape" is a general category that we have applied to ourselves and species closely related to us, such as chimpanzees and gorillas. "Ape" is also applied to recent ancestors of ape species.



a. What do you mean? There were several divergences throughout our evolutionary history, meaning that we trace a line of evolutionary ancestory back through several ape species. Many of these are not know and research is still continuing to fill in these gaps in our evolutionary tree.



b. We have different skin color due to mutations. Originally, we were likely all as dark as Africans are today, but mutations in melanin production resulted in lighter skin colors we see today.



i. We are one species because, again, that is how we define species. A species is any group of organisms that are able to produce fertile offspring. Modern Homo sapiens have not had enough time to evolve and diverge into different species.



ii. I don't really understand what you are asking here. Chimpanzees are considered a different species because we define them as such, even though we have a direct connection with them via evolutionary ancestors.



c. We evolved through natural selection. Read the literature for a full explanation on how this works.



i. Chemical reactions really aren't involved. It has to do with mutations due to copying errors in DNA replication. These errors are transferred to gametes, and then expressed as a new trait in offspring.



ii. Natural selection occurs in all species. New species diverge from older species because populations are exposed to different environments. This leads to different traits being selected for which eventually leads to the two populations diverging and becoming new species. Humans were one population and Chimps were another population.



2. Most likely the original wars were due to fights over things like food, maybe mates, etc. This doesn't really have anything to do with evolution, however. Also, wars have been observed in Chimpanzees as well.



"Because of uncertainity or loss of memory?"



What are you asking here? Are you suggesting this is the cause of war? I don't really think that it played a role, but memory does tend to be highly inefficient.



a. Memory loss is due to the brain not storing it properly. Often, things are just put into our short term memories and then discarded. Long term memories are often emotional events and things that are constant and repeated. What does this have to do with evolution?



b. Nations are born out of cultural differences, not biological differences. Populations develop different languages, cultural values, beliefs, etc. and in recent years have organized their cultures into nations. Chimpanzees also divide into groups. Again, this has little to do with evolution itself.



Considering the fact that none of these questions deal with God, I don't really see why you are asking atheists about this.



"Truth is, you can't"



Truth is, I just did.

Answer 10

I get so tired of this question. First, it is not only atheists who believe in evolution, and I'm not sure all atheists believe in evolution. Secondly, the claim is not that man evolved from ape but that man and ape evolved from the same common ancestor. You need to know what you're talking about so you don't make a fool of yourself.

Answer 11

1 a A lot of atheists come from Christianity and yet Christians still exist



b I don't know, never looked it up



bi you can't evolve from different contemporary species



c mutations and natural selection



ii because the other species had different mutations and evolved differently



2 different clans of apes also go to war



a) probably because your parents dropped you on your head as a baby

b) mostly over arguments over who cooked the best kebabs

Answer 12

It's not only Atheists that support evolution. So do many Christians and Muslims. Anyone who realizes that science is an organized, structured, logical way of looking at the world will likely support evolution because there is so much proof that supports it.



But, you're not correct in your understanding. That isn't what evolution says. For the whole idea, look it up and educate yourself. Be you a Muslim, a Christian or an Atheist, surely looking at facts with an open heart and mind is good? If religious, then surely your God's creation (the Universe) can be looked at with logic? After all, it follows many laws and rules, such as gravity, that no one denies.



One major idea as to what causes changes in a species is natural selection. If you make 100 black dots and 100 white dots, and drop them on a large black floor, then pick up dots as fast as you can in 15 seconds, then you will see that you picked up more white dots. Why? Because they stand out more against the black floor. If you tried the same thing on a white floor, you would pick up more black dots. Why? Because they stand out more against the white floor, and the white dots blend in. This aspect of nature is very, very obvious. Look at walking sticks, or many moths. In a desert, lizards that blend in survive. Those that stand out are eaten. In forest, the same thing holds true. So, lizards in a forest are a different color than lizards in a desert.



Tied in with natural selection, as described above, is selective breeding--both intentional and unintentional. If big men can better protect their families in a dangerous environment, then women will be more likely to choose large, strong men. Over generations, people in general would become larger. Which happened for a long time. Modern people are much bigger than earlier people. (An abundance of food and good health also plays a part, and also supports evolution).



If you want to research selective breeding that was done intentionally, look up the very purposeful breeding of dogs, chickens, rabbits, cattle or sheep. There are new dog breeds that are useless, and many dogs would die if they had to support themselves. There is the Giant Chincilla Rabbit, which was created by one man, pretty much. There are chicken breeds that lay an amazing number of eggs, but aren't broody, and would die out if not raised by people in controlled environments. Some chickens grow very quickly and become bigger than normal, as meat birds. Same with goat breeds. Cattle breeds also can be for milking, or for meat. Some are dual purpose. Sheep and similar animals are bred to produce a lot of wool.



By looking at these intentional selective breeding programs--and their results--surely you can see that this isn't just a bunch of nonsense made up by scientists?!? Why would an atheist or anyone else make such things up anyway? They don't have a pre-conceived God or other idea to support. They look at what is, and accept it for what it is.

Answer 13

Why are your parents still alive? And why are you not exactly the same as your siblings? And what does memory have to do with it?



Honestly, all these questions (outside of the kore obvious non-sequiturs) ahve been answered time and time again, and a little perusal of any basic text on evolutionary theory would answer them. Since you are asking, I can only assume that you are profoundly ignorant of the subject...

Answer 14

I'd like a Atheist to answer these questions. Truth is, you can't. Simply because we never evolved from Apes to begin with.



So you think we came from dirt? No one has all the answers, but I'd rather have come from an ape instead of dirt. For the record an atheist doesn't believe in god, no more no less.

Answer 15

Atheists claim nothing of the sort. Atheism is simply not believing in "gods". If you are referring to evolution, evolutionary theory doesn't claim that at all. Rather, apes AND man share a COMMON ANCESTOR. I suggest you actually READ about evolution before trying to refute it.

Answer 16

1) evolution

2) because war a consequence of social constitutions and these are a consequence of intelligence.

3

a)What memory you speaking of. You can't even remember your own birth.

b) EVOLUTIO'N

Truth is that you have absolutely no scientific knowledge and so, there is no way you would understand that. I am not going to teach you the things ive been learning for 5 years in one yahoo answer. And what makes you think you are so right?

Answer 17

Modern apes are fully-evolved creatures, they've just taken a different evolutionary path. The rest of your questions are too foolish to bother with.

Answer 18

One question at a time, please.

For one thing, evolution postulates that we and the apes both evolved from a common ancestor.

Educate yourself.

Answer 19

If Americans came from Europe, then why are there still Europeans?



Oh my goodness, if I had a penny for every time someone tried to prove evolution wrong and it just backfired on them...



I'd have about six cents. But I don't come to this section often. (And for good reason, because unfortunately, I *don't* get a penny for every time someone asks this sort of question.)

Answer 20

a.) there are many, but the one i learnt to spell and the one that sound the most badass is australopithecus afarensis



b.) no, variation exists in all species



i) no, homo sapien sapiens is our full scientific name, humans can interbreed and produce viable offspring, ergo we are the same species



ii) this doesnt make any sense



c.) evolution relies upon two principles, mutation and natural selection, mutation allows for new variation to occur whereas natural selection allows for such new genes to be expressed in a larger portion of the population.



i) chemical reactions are ever present unless you are at 0 kelvin.



ii) the rest died, this is the principle point of natural selection, the fail genes die off leaving whatever works behind.



2.) WTF? war has nothing to do with evolution. its often socio-political.



a.) WTF AGAIN? this makes no sense



b.) nations are man made social structures.

Answer 21

Dude, 70% of Christians believe in evolution, even Pope John Paul II said there's no inconsistency between evolution and Christianity.

Answer 22

"Truth is, you can't. Simply because we never evolved from Apes to begin with."



Well, looks like your minds all made up then. No need for me to waste my time stating well-documented facts and whatnot.

Answer 23

edit: i suppose i made a false assumption, however everything u listed in ur first main question can be answered by the basic evolutionary text, secondly ur second main question doesnt address the validity of evolution at all i feel u should know

Answer 24

First we don't came we come from apes and second it not just use who believe in evolution.

Answer 25

Why embarrass yourself? Read a middle-school text on evolutionary biology and you will find that man and the other great apes share a common ancestor

Answer 26

Atheists may make that claim because they understand what Evolutionary Biologists have discovered.

many of the answers you seek can be found here:



http://www.youtube.com/user/WhyEvolutionIsTrue

Answer 27

you're a Muslim ? Well, it makes sense now .

take this as a piece of advice, before you talk about a topic, try to know what you're going to talk about before you make a fool out of yourself . Atheists are no fools dear .

Answer 28

Well, if you are curious about biology and evolution then maybe you should pick up a biology book.



As for your first question, humans did not descend from apes. Apes and humans share a common ancestor. That is actually pretty simple. An animal millions of years ago existed. Some of its population evolved one way and another group evolved another way. Both groups will end up different but having a lot of similar characteristics. Why did they evolve differently? There are many factors that can cause this but the biggest reason is differences in environment. You get two groups of identical animals separated in two different types of places and wait a million years then you will have two differently evolved groups of animals. Each animal evolved to better fit to its environment and since those environments were different then you get different types of animals.



Your part a is answered by this. There was no species ape. It was a prehistoric animal that was probably ape-like.



Your part b is answered by this as well. Instead, take humans and have them scattered all around the planet in a lot of different types of environments. Each will adapt differently to these environments. For instance, those with darker skin can generally be traced to groups of humans that settled closer to the equator. A lot more sun and heat in those places. The darker skin was an adaptation. The greater amounts of melanin meant better protection from the sun's radiation.



Your part i to b is not a valid question because we did not evolve from different species. We have a common ancestor. It is not like a bunch of animals evolved differently and gave us different types of humans. Look at it like a tree with branches. The same goes for your part ii.



Your part c is a very long and complicated answer. Basically an animal has various genes that determine its characteristics. These genes can change from various different ways. These genes are also passed from one generation to the next. Each new generation will share genes from their parents but they are not exactly the same as their parents. There are a combination of the parents genes plus a few mutations. Usually, mutations lead to nothing. They are usually small and do not make much of a difference. Sometimes they are bad and bring harm to the animal. It will not survive long with that kind of mutation. Sometimes they are beneficial and will help the animal. Make it stronger, faster, better ability to gather food, better chance to attract a female, there are all kinds of different ways to benefit the animal. This mutation gives the animal a better chance to pass its genes along and its children will have a better chance to gain these genes. These animals will have a better chance at survival and passing the genes than those without the genes so the ones in the species with these genes will last in the group longer. Eventually, these changes will add up and you will have an animal that is very different from the prior generations. This so far is a very simplified explanation. To truly understand it you need to study biology. Not a bad subject to study by the way.



Your part i does not make sense because it is not chemical reactions. Well, technically all of life is chemical reactions but evolution is not a type of chemical reaction. Now to change the genes and cause a mutation it could come from a chemical reaction. There are all kinds of natural ways for a chemical to be released into an environment. Volcanoes, meteors, decaying radioactive substances, erosion exposing new minerals, smoke from fires, and so forth. You can do it without humans involved quite easily. There are other types of things that can cause mutations. There are problems in DNA replication that can cause mutations. Ultraviolet radiation can cause mutations. Radioactivity can cause mutations. You can get it done without introducing chemicals into the environment.



Your part ii to C is an invalid question because humans did not evolve from apes and not from different types of apes. Apes and humans share a common ancestor. Apes evolved one way and humans evolved another way. It is a very simple concept.



Ok, on to question 2. Why did humans who evolve from those apes go to war? What are you talking about? Humans have been going to war for millenia. Even apes have been documented to have raids on one group to another. This part does not have anything to do with evolution. Evolution was how humans came to be on the planet. It does not cover what humans do, however.



Your part a is another puzzler. What memory are you talking about? Are you talking about our earliest times on the planet? Are you talking about history from hundreds of thousands of years ago? Tell me, what did your great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather do for a living? Any one of them will do, you should have many. What, you cannot tell me? What happened to your memory? Remember, humans did not pop up on the planet overnight and they did not learn to read or write overnight. The anthropology of humans is a very interesting subject as well. You should learn about it. Our recorded history came about after humans figured out reading and writing and a way to preserve this history in a way that could last a long time.



Part b. Why are their different nations of people? Did you know that here have been brand new nations pop up in the last few decades? That happened without the aid of religion or evolution. Humans are tribal in nature and we have taken this concept of tribes and brought it to a new level with nations. Like uber-tribes if you will. Nations have nothing to do with evolution.

Answer 29

Not all Atheists think that we evolved from apes. I think we're different kind of animals.

Answer 30

u are right. we dont come from ape. dont ask atheists they assume themselves very smart. i am muslim i andu know allah has created humans,plants,animals,sun and earth. we can read write and infinite times more intelligent than any species on earth.. we muslims are also infinite times more brilliant than atheists. ok clear.

Answer 31

some of these questions demonstrate your level of understanding of basic science (and common sense) is about a 3rd grade level (??)

Answer 32

If you came from God, then why is there still God ?



You need to read a book.

Answer 33

Open your eyes and read a book or two besides the bible. (or the Quran)

Answer 34

Too much palm, not enough face.



Please be a troll.

Answer 35

If you came from your parents, why do you still have parents?

Answer 36

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_evolution