Evolution Before Darwin

Stories are powerful. In the past, long before books, people used stories to pass down history and legends to create a deeper understanding of their heritage. It was also a way to pass down morals and values from generation to generation. More than just a way of preserving the past, storytelling is a great way to bridge the gap between a reader’s heart and that of the writer. Everyone has a story to tell no matter what kind it may be. Although there is an art to storytelling, at its very foundation, the practice is merely a means of communicating one’s experiences. Perhaps out of a lack of

We grow up with stories told to us by our parents, our grandparents, sisters or brothers, and friends. Stories of love, of tragedy, stories that convey warnings, or some other moral or truth. There are even stories we tell others, but aren't sure how we learned them. Then there are the stories that we read as we grow older, and the stories we watch on television. Whether realized or not, the stories we read and see bear similarities to the stories we were learned as children. They reveal the same moral, give a warning not to make a particular mistake, or speak of the same type of love. Sometimes stories even follow the same plot as other narratives. Psychologist Carl G. Jung asserted that there are recurring “archetypes”

This is indeed interesting, that the concept that Darwin is given so much credit for was not even a very modern idea in his own day.

One shared ritual all cultures participated in were the telling of stories. Stories taught us how to live and how not to live. These life lessons were passed down over again from generation to generation. Also, they were considered acceptable rules in each unique society. The most common types of religious stories that were told all around the world were called “Creation Myths”. These stories explain how the world, mankind, animals, and plants came into existence. Every human culture produces unique, but similar explanations of how supernatural forces created the world and the human race. In fact, the two interesting myths of Enuma Elish and Spider woman, both display a narrative of creation. Even though these myths share the telling of

Throughout all of history, human beings have been storytellers. Humans have always sought to explain the unknown, understand themselves and the world around them, and connect through myth, story, and gossip. This transcendent nature of mythology proves it is much more than mere stories. Humans tell stories because they yearn to order the world to their lives. The real distinction between humans and other animals is not simply intelligence or reason, but the ability to share our stories. They uniquely connect all of human existence to act as a group in order to be more than just individuals. Humans desire connection as much as they desire order, and myth unites these primal desires. Cynthia Ozick explains the unity between the desires in her

We as human beings are story tellers. We love a story be it in a good book or a movie or a campfire tale.

Everyone in this world starts somewhere, thousands of new beginnings each day, a new story drafted every moment. A story can be written, told by mouth, or acted out, but it is the original telling, the occurrence of such a story, which remains the most engaging and interesting, leading to the stories that will be told long after the characters are gone. With each birth a new story begins, with each achievement the plot of a story is established, and with each death a story is passed on. Some people create more stories than their own, weaving their words into a tale of their choosing. All of these stories are equally significant, some more popular than others are told often, some are shared only amongst few, and yet these stories all

Today's society contains stories that model the ideal life that each individual lives each day. Stories may shape our mind in creative and positive ways that may enlighten the road towards the future. They have been examples for us to survive by and thrive on for decades: in the past, and now, continuing in the future. People around the world have been told stories that may have influenced their lives in a unique way. Children long to be enlightened by stories that fill their young and fruitful minds, allowing thoughts and new ideas to be instilled. Throughout the worlds' cultures and literature, stories have influenced the actions and morals of man with their underlying

As humans, our developed pre-frontal cortex allows us to interpret and digest information at a more rapid speed than any other species on Earth. Our opposable thumbs allow us to grab and handle objects in ways other species cannot. These traits that greatly affect our functioning as humans were undoubtedly passed down from generation to generation. Whether we choose to believe that humans evolved from fish or monkeys, we all came from a common ancestor.

Storytelling is an art that can take many forms. Stories engage people on all different levels and the greatest pathway to tell a good story is the use of emotion. It can also serve as a medium to communicate unsaid emotions. Stories educate and also preserve history by passing it carefully on to the next generation. Each person has a different story. One story is a just as fascinating and unique as the other and at some point in life one gets to realize that no two stories are exactly alike. Telling stories also present a way of understanding one’s life with a deeper understanding and meaning. Stories matter and sometimes all a person wants is a listener or just a way to know they are being heard. Very often, one

The idea of evolution was introduced by Charles Darwin, and explains how animals change over time. The theory states that every organism on the Earth originated from a common ancestor and then, through the process of natural selection, how those animals branched off to become different organisms. Scholars use this theory to explain how animals that live on Earth change over time. However, scientists find it difficult to use this theory to explain some events that occurred in the geologic time period, such as the Cambrian Explosion. The Cambrian explosion was a macro-evolutionary event that happened during the late Ediacaran and early Cambrian period. It introduced a number of phyla on the Earth, and significantly affected the animal

Humans relied on telling stories to each other and to their offspring as a way of self preservation (Delistraty). People retain more information when it is told with a narrative rather than only facts (Delistraty). We developed the skill of storytelling to protect the people around us and our children. In order to warn someone that there was a dangerous animal in a cave and to not go near it, the person who was warning the person would put a narrative to turn the warning into a story. Stories were also told to help explain the world around us, because it would be difficult to survive if you were surrounded by the unknown.

Mythic traditions have led the understanding of the physical and spiritual world. Although for many cultures, some ideas have become antiquated, especially when using the myths to explain the origins of the physical natural world. This is especially true when looking at the origin of human beings. The creation of the world is a storytelling tradition present in nearly all cultures across the world, and present mixed compatibility with the theory of evolution - especially when discussing the origins of mankind.

Charles Darwin was a British naturalist who proposed the theory of evolution by natural selection in his controversial book On the Origin of Species. Darwinian evolution states that all species on earth gradually evolved from one common ancestor through natural selection. His theory can be broken down into six components: evolution, gradualism, common ancestry, speciation, natural selection, and nonselective mechanisms for evolutionary change. Evolution simply means that a “species undergoes genetic change over time.” Due to DNA mutations, these genetic changes in species form completely new and diverse species over several generations. This explains the wide variety of life found on Earth today; life on Earth today descended from life in the past, yet greatly differed from it. The second component of Darwinian evolution is gradualism. Evolution takes time. It takes multitudinous generations to produce significant evolutionary change. This does not mean that all species evolve at the same rate. The theory of evolution does not predict the rate at which species evolve. The environmental factors affecting different species determine how fast or slow evolution occurs. Typically, evolution slows down once a species adapts to the environment. Common ancestry indicates that all species share a common ancestor who passed its traits to its descendants. But, how is the diversity of life explained then? This leads to speciation which is how new species evolve from old species because

In 1859 a man named Charles Darwin came up with his theory of evolution by means of natural selection. His theory explained how adaptations and speciation occurs. In his own words he defined natural selection as “descent with modification,” (“Darwin, Evolution, & Natural Selection.” Khan Academy). Darwin explained that evolution was simply just natural selection over a much larger period of time. We now use his theory today.