Darwinism and popular culture: Homo erectus, homo habilis, and Alley Oop
Mustafa Akyol recently noted in "A farewell to homo habilis - a modern icon" in Turkish Daily News that the story regarding human ancestors has greatly changed in the last few years:
These various categories of "human ancestors" look quite convincing and appealing when “reconstructed” and put into a gradual sequence, but when scientific details are examined, it is really not easy to explain how one evolved into the other. One big problem that some paleoanthropologists have noted is the big gap between Homo habilis, which is very much like a big ape, and Homo erectus, which can be considered as a unique, but yet still genuine, human.
Indeed, some responsible sources think that Homo habilis was an ape-asaurus, if you please, and others note that Homo erectus, like Adam and Eve, currently lacks identifiable ancestors. Mustafa goes on,
Now, the reason why I am telling you all about this is an important discovery made two weeks ago in Kenya by Meave Leakey, the veteran paleontologist. The bones that Mrs. Leakey and her colleagues have found really shakes the standard evolution story, because they prove that Homo habilis and Homo erectus, which are supposed to be two different phases of human evolution, actually coexisted for at least half a million years.
"It's the equivalent of finding that your grandmother and great-grandmother were sisters rather than mother-daughter,” said paleontologist Fred Spoor, according to an Associated Press report. The AP news story added that this surprising finding “makes it unlikely that Homo erectus evolved from Homo habilis.” Moreover, it “discredits that iconic illustration of human evolution that begins with a knuckle-dragging ape and ends with a briefcase-carrying man.”
Indeed, the Darwinian evolutionist's story of human origins is always changing. That wouldn't matter except that heaven help you if you doubt them or can't even remember their current cast iron "truths" about human origins.
It feels somewhat like living among fundamentalists EXCEPT that, instead of sticking with a Bible that hasn't changed much over the millennia, Darwinists put out a NEW Bible on human origins every other year. New discoveries are always overturning paradigms, though just how something gets to be a paradigm and then is overturned next season is beyond me. Here in Toronto, we call those kinds of ideas fads.
The old-fashioned sort of fundamentalist is easier to avoid than the Darwinist. Just memorize the key Bible verses (which won't change, any more than math will) and decide what to make of it all on your own time. Do not sign up to receive tracts or visits and you're free and clear. Unlike the Darwinist, the fundamentalist will not try to wreck your career if you question him.
For a gallery of knuckle-draggers to straphangers, and other Darwinism-related humour, go here. Personally, I think Alley Oop is the best bet yet.