Evolution (easy)
Reading through the document attatched, describe one explanation of a misconception that you think is actually incorrect or unclear, or
if not unclear, then one of the misconceptions that you find especially interesting? Which one was it and how might you improve upon it
with some example you’re familiar with in biology
-be specific with support/explanations
-needs to be a solid paragraph. 8-12 sentences
Misconceptions (or thoughts) on Evolution students reported hearing about:
1. One misconception about evolution that I had was that it occurs slowly and gradually. Whereas this is true, it can also occur
rapidly.
2. There is one major misconception that I have heard various people say. All mutations are detrimental. While some mutations are
detrimental and can result in organisms’ death (as early as before the organism is born, hatched, etc.) or lower fitness, a mutation is
simply a change in the genetic code. If it a viable mutation (meaning the organism does die as a result of it and grows to be a member
of the population), then the environment helps to determine if the trait is beneficial or detrimental to the organism’s fitness.
3. Mutations were caused by a selective pressure from the environment, but I learned that mutations are actually random. Natural
selection is not random.
4. I think for the most part people I know have a clear idea of what evolution is, yet have a hard time saying out loud the
precise definition or have trouble defining what the mechanisms are that contribute to evolution.
5. I think one misconception some people have of evolution is that all mutations are bad. There are good mutations that benefit
the fitness of some organisms.
6. When I think of evolution, the first thing that comes to mind is Charles Darwin. Most people have that same reaction I think.
While he may be the most well-known scientist and many of his theories have been adopted into common lingo, I know that there were many
over scientists around his same time and previous to Darwin that had a hand in shaping his theories.
7. What seems to have always stuck with me is the fact that natural selection and evolution are not the same thing. I have heard
it over and over since freshman year,that natural selection is just a mechanism of evolution. I think the greatest evolution myth out
there I have heard so far is that Evolution is just a theory. I think a lot of people don’t know the meaning of a scientific theory and
may not know much about science in general.
8. Evolution has seemed to become a more controversial concept throughout the past couple of years. It is hard to not hear
people’s different opinions on whether evolution exists and I know there are many who do not believe that it does. There are also a lot
of people who do not believe in the science behind it all and how the world came to be because of evolution.
9. A misconception is that people think scientists have a complete record of every organism that ever lived. However, evolutionary
theory is incomplete and cannot give an explanation for everything.
10. One misconception that students often have is that evolution happens by chance, based on what we learned in biology 2 I would
disagree and say that this is a common misconception.
11. One misconception I had about evolution and eventually learned was that mutations are random, organisms do not develop new
traits immediately for survival. It happens over time and occurs due to many factors in a very slow process [evolution can also occur
rapidly]. The bottleneck and founder effect are good examples about how populations have different genetic variations and how they can
occur in different manners, the bottleneck by a reduction in the population with certain genes being left and the founder effect with
individuals from a population migrating or in someway starting a new small population with their own genetic variations.
12. A common misconception about evolution is that it is a theory about how life originated but in reality evolution mostly deals
with how organisms changed after the origin of life. Going off of an earlier point that I made, another misconception that even I
shared was that evolutionary changes only occur very slowly and gradually, which is what I feel like many K-12 teachers make it seem
like. In reality though, evolution can occur within 50 years or within thousands of years. It’s quite fascinating to think that these
changes can occur so rapidly and that we (humans) can see some organisms change within our lifetimes.
13. I think a common misconception involves the misunderstanding that [people do not think] the mutations that occur are random
[mutations are random with respect to how they may help, hinder, or remain neutral to an organism’s fitness] and people think that the
more successful traits are the ones that are passed on (not that the traits are specifically selected for). Sometimes people think that
the species that are the strongest are the ones that survive the best. While this may be true in some cases, it is certainly not the
case for all. There are many other factors involved in making a species “fit” for survival. I think this class will really help clear
up some of the misconceptions!
14. A common misconception that I think many of us hear is that evolution is a theory SOLELY about the origin of life. I did not
believe that the origin of life is what evolution solely focused on, but I will admit that I thought this unit was one of the primary
focuses of evolution. Looking at our “tentative course schedule,” the origin of life is neither the sole focus or a primary focus of
evolution. As a result, I was incorrect along with many others when it comes to the understanding of evolution.
15. One major misconception I have heard concerning the “theory” of evolution is the difference between the strong scientific
definition of “theory” and the traditional English use of the word. To scientists, it is synonymous with “law” and has a vast amount of
proof to support it.
16. A misconception that I’ve heard numerous times is the fact that they think that evolution is a quick process, and that’s why
they don’t believe in evolution. They don’t believe that it is a long process, and that’s how species have evolved to what they are
today.
17. A misconception that I have heard would be evolution is a theory about the origin of life. This is misunderstood because
evolution deals with life after its origin due to the different processes.
18. One of the misconception that I used to have is that through evolution, all species and organisms always get better. This stuck
to me for quite some times since I always heard that the one with the better trait will survive and produce. However, it is not always
true. I learnt that fitness of the organisms are not always related to their better trait, but associates with the environment that
they live in. For example, sometimes the environment of that organism changes, and the traits that always work best in the previous
environment might not be the fittest trait in the new environment, and vice versus.
19. One misconception I have heard when it comes to evolution is that there are many gaps when it comes to the fossil record which
make me weary (sometimes) about how we got from one ancestor of species to the next. With evolution being a theory sometimes one can
assume that some of the things associated with the topic may not be related possibly due to lack of evidence which is one of the many
reasons I am so excited to go into such detail with the subject!
20. I think the biggest misconception that I have heard about evolution is that it does not exist. I was raised in a religious
environment and I remember the subject being a bit taboo and there being a struggle to accept the concept. I recently heard in a movie
the argument that if we are descended from apes then why are there still apes? The response that was given: My dog asked me the same
question about wolves. I thought that dialogue was witty and pretty much summed up that argument.
21. One misconception about evolution is that all organisms share the same ancestor and evolution through natural selection.
22. I think the most common misconception about the theory of evolution that I hear is that evolution is all about the origin of
life. I think that even though the origin of life is a part of evolution it really is only a small part and that the majority of
evolution seems to focus on what happened after the origin.
23. One that appears to be the most prevalent is people discrediting the theory of evolution as either a hypothesis or a belief.
Regardless of the reason, whether personal or religious, most of the time it appears that the fact that years of research by countless
scientists supporting the theory of evolution is overlooked.
24. A common misconception I have been aware of is the thought that evolution and adaptation can occur on an individual organism
basis. This misconception is represented and exaggerated in the TV show That 70’s Show, when Michael Kelso states, “look, say I had to
catch my own food, right? But I only ate really fast animals? My feet would eventually evolve into rockets.” The idea that an
individual that is at a disadvantage will eventually develop and adapt to overcome this disadvantage within its lifetime is inaccurate.
25. Perhaps the biggest misconception that I hear from friends and peers is that the theory of evolution suggests that organisms
choose to evolve or are willfully capable of evolving to better their chances for survival.
26. A common misconception about the theory of evolution is that humans came from monkeys. We share a common ancestor, but we are
in no how related to the monkeys of todays time. We belong to the same family as gorillas, but we did not evolve from monkeys.
27. One thing I have found to be a misconception about evolution is that most people think that evolution cannot be seen in a
lifetime. In most cases when you think about larger mammals that have long life cycles, this typically can be the case, but when you
think about small organisms, such as the fruit fly, you are able to see evolution within that organism.
28. The one misconception I have heard is that individual organisms are capable of evolving over the time of a single life span.
Evolution is derived from the genetic variation of a population. Populations evolve over time, NOT individuals. The change in an
individual could be developmental or environmentally caused, but not by genetic shifts.
29. I know a common misconception about evolution is that humans evolved from apes and neanderthals but humans just share a common
ancestor.
30. My biggest misconception about evolution is that species should get better during evolution.
31. One of the theories or misconceptions I have heard is that evolution doesn’t exist despite scientific evidence.
32. It’s difficult for me to remember misconceptions I have had personally. It’s rare for me to have a clear epiphany that leads me
to change my mind; rather, I find that my thinking evolves more gradually, so that I often have a hard time distinguishing
misconceptions from the correct information that eventually develops. I have, however, come across many misconceptions from others. I
think the one that bothers me most is the idea, often touted by creationists, that evolution is a random process. To be sure, there is
a random element: mutation. However, the great insight of Darwin/Wallace was that there is a nonrandom process that could gradually
sculpt organisms from the clay provided by these random mutations; that absent any conscious agency, the forces of nature can produce
organisms that seem deliberately designed in their complexity simply through differential survival of randomly varying characteristics.
While even this is an oversimplification, it certainly provides a greater understanding than the misconception that just because
evolution has a random element, it must be a random process.
33. One misconception is that a theory is a prediction and not valid science. Thus often people mock evolution as “just a theory”
not understanding the scientific proof behind it.
34. One common misconception that some people have about evolution is that when it comes to natural selection, many people believe
that the biggest most advanced animals or organisms survive, which is false because sometimes it is not the biggest animal that would
live the longest. It depends on the circumstances of the habitat in which the animal lives and if this organism is a predator or prey.
If it was prey, for example, and it was larger compared to its surroundings and its fellow animals of the same species then this animal
might have a harder time concealing itself from predators since it is so large. Although it may have a better chance of defending
itself against predators, it may not be the most well adapted so this trait that makes them larger would not be one that would be as
favorable to pass down to the future generations and natural selection may eliminate it.
35. A common misconception I hear regularly by people who are not familiar with the ideas of evolution is that either A) it doesn’t
happen, and the way things are now is how they’ve always been, or B) evolutionary trends aren’t seen within a short span, and that they
can ONLY happen over millions of years.
36. One misconception about theory of evolution is that I thought the fittest species are species that have to be strongest and
biggest.
37. I think one major misconception that those that discredit evolution have is the timescale at which evolution occurs. Many seem
to think that evolution occurs over the lifetime of an individual rather than over many generations.
38. The main topic I remember about evolution was the search for the origin of each/all species. Although this topic is interesting
I don’t believe that it is the main focus of the theory of evolution, and could in a way be a misconception.
39. A few misconceptions I constantly here about evolution from people are “why don’t we see monkeys turn into people then?” and
also “there are no real examples of evolution.” There are many examples of evolution, not only from looking into fossil records and our
genetic past, but also in real-time at the microbial level. One large example I use to support evolution in relation to humans (I hope
I’m using this correct) is humans development of lactose tolerance. Examples of microevolution include bacteria and antibiotics as well
as pesticide resistance. As far as the “monkey” argument goes, many people do not understand phylogeny and that there was a divergence
in which humans and monkeys came from a common ancestor.
40. A misconception I’ve commonly heard about evolution is that people often think that Monkeys directly transformed into people
one day.
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