CHAPTER 10 



CONCLUSIONS 



What conclusions, then, can one come to concerning the validity 

 of the various implications of the theory of evolution? If we go 

 back to our initial assumptions it will be seen that the evidence is 

 still lacking for most of them. 



(1) The first assumption was that non-living things gave rise to 

 living material. This is still just an assumption. It is conceivable 

 that living material might have suddenly appeared on this world 

 in some peculiar manner, say from another planet, but this then 

 raises the question, " Where did life originate on that planet? " 

 We could say that life has always existed, but such an explanation 

 is not a very satisfactory one. Instead, the explanation that non- 

 living things could have given rise to complex systems having 

 the properties of living things is generally more acceptable to most 

 scientists. There is, however, little evidence in favour of 

 biogenesis and as yet we have no indication that it can be per- 

 formed. There are many schemes by which biogenesis could have 

 occurred but these are still suggestive schemes and nothing more. 

 They may indicate experiments that can be performed, but they 

 tell us nothing about what actually happened some 1,000 million 

 years ago. It is therefore a matter of faith on the part of the 

 biologist that biogenesis did occur and he can choose whatever 

 method of biogenesis happens to suit him personally; the evidence 

 for what did happen is not available. 



(2) The second assumption was that biogenesis occurred only 

 once. This again is a matter for belief rather than proof. It is 

 convenient to believe that all living systems have the same 

 fundamental chemical processes at work within them, but as 

 has already been mentioned, only a few representatives from the 

 wide range of living forms have so far been examined and even 



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