Essay written for the course "Soul Beliefs: Causes and Consequences" at Rutgers - New Jersey State University taken at Coursera.

1. Darwinism today
Luiz Guilherme Leite AMARAL1
There is a common error when referring to Darwin’s Theory of Evolution.
First of all, a scientific fact is a fact whether you believe it or not, which means that
fact disregard creed. It is fact. With this statement, we can correct the sentence “that’s
just a theory”. It is a theory. Period. Creationists confuse “theory” with “hypothesis”,
and that makes a huge difference concerning any scientific subject. A hypothesis is an
idea that is yet to be investigated. It must complete a series of tests and experiments,
observation and calculations to become a theory that is accepted accordingly with the
scientific community. If a hypothesis is accepted and fits into a paradigm, it becomes
a theory. They are similar to an absolute truth, or axiom, like mathematical theorems.
So, when we talk about Darwinism or evolution, we talk about a fact.
Darwin’s “descent by modification” studies give us a much complete
understanding of who we are, where we came from and, sometimes, where we are
going to as species. The theory demonstrates how species could spread in a great
variety but some of these variations did not survive. This is more that adaptation; this
is also fitting the environment and succeeding in perpetuating its own genetic code. If
a specific variation of a species does not fit or have the proper qualities to grow, hunt,
keep safe from predators and breed descendants, than this variation is much like to
finish in detriment of other variations. This is not a matter of luck, either. Darwinism
shows us that it is more a question of who (or what) has the better “design” to survive,
and not that species are subject of fate by some creator.
That must have been the biggest dilemma for Charles Darwin during his entire
work. He was married to his cousin and both came from very religious families. This
shift of values – from a creator to a natural process – made him reel under pressure at
such a point he longed years and years until his final work had been published. The
19th
century was based on strict religious foundations and, even with a inspiring
scientific community in Britain, nevertheless Darwin’s fears of having the same end
as Bruno or Copernicus haunted him constantly. But all his effort paid off when he
1
Regular
student
on
the
Master’s
in
Communication
and
Culture
Program
at
University
of
Sorocaba,
Brazil.
Ministry
of
Education
CAPES
scholarship
granted
in
March
2015.

2. finally published his studies and Darwinism became quickly accepted by the
academia.
Such a brilliant work remains not only untouched on its core but has been
perfected throughout the last 150 years. The discovery of fossils, the evolution of
bacteria and many other events have shown us the power of Darwin’s ideas as well as
the power of nature. I often insist that religious dogmas no longer fit in our societies
given how much knowledge we have gathered and how intricate our societies have
become. That means that religious beliefs cannot argue with this scientific fact. One
might wonder if, among theses evolutionary steps, the hand of God might have done
its work whether to lead us to these findings or if it was a plan all along. But evolution
is a different type of plan, because it is not deterministic but if a process that helps all
species reach a goal: survival.