Evolution: Fact or Theory?

A Reflection on Module 1

I have two perspectives on evolution, concerning ~what~ it is. On a technical level, I've learned evolution to be lifeforms changing themselves across the ages to fit new circumstances through various mechanisms, or a race to fill new niches and secure a spot in the earth's ever-shifting context of existence. It's genetics and behaviors filling spaces made available to them either through conquest or imprisonment. Alternatively, on a more poetic level, I see evolution as life itself taking different forms to experience novel ways of existing. It's the web of life maximizing it's sustainability by diversifying roles in the play of time to make use of the resources available to it. Kinda like that saying that goes something along the lines of "You are not a person experiencing the universe but the universe experiencing a person."

Secondly, I believe evolution is a theory, but not in a way that diminishes its legitimacy. I think it's a concept so founded in its multitudes of evidence that it's nonnegotiably real. The stipulation is just that one can't point to evolution and say "there it is" because it has no substance or definite form we can handle or witness aside from indirect measurement and observation, at least not in any way that's ever come to my attention. We're constantly learning new things about evolution but we've yet to come across something that has put a hole in the fabric of the theory, which seems promising.

Evo Intro

 Hi Class,

My name is Dayton Raines, hence the cringe-producing play-on-words title of this blog. I hail from Shawnee, KS and I'd be quite happy ending up anywhere that has dense forests, fields of flowers, and stretches of water. Conservation of and communication of the importance of biodiversity is one of my most serious passions, as is the modern reconnection of humanity with its nature-based origins. I have been drawn to biology throughout my life because I am simply fascinated by life: physical matter that just happens to have a special something about it that lets it be just a bit more than just physical matter. Evolution is just the process by which life has variably expressed itself millions, maybe billions, of times throughout the millennia of its existence, which is, frankly, dope. I am an avid gardener and my family keeps quite a few pets so frequently I find myself thinking about the "But... why?" of various plant species I care for and our familiar canine, feline, and avian companions. Hopefully by the end of this semester this class will have deepened both my appreciative and empirical understanding of evolution, so I may continue to grow in my understanding of the natural world. Oh, I also hope to learn some good coding skills because I think my boss would really appreciate it. Thanks for reading :)