PiUMAN ORGANIC EVOLUTION: FACT OR FANCY? 



any more than it can answer the fundamental question of first 

 causes in hfe itself. 



The foregoing has primarily been an attempt at looking at 

 the material causes for evolution, and the theory that was here 

 presented is the work not of Darwin alone, although built 

 upon his first insights, but is synthetic, the work of many men. 

 and many ideas which have been brought together into a more 

 or less coherent whole which can answer some of the questions 

 that could not be answered in Darwin's day. Like all theories, 

 however, it does not explain everything, and is not supposed 

 to. But rather, the function of theory is not only to explain, 

 but also to guide our search for more data and raise further 

 questions and through this process increase our understanding 

 of natural phenomena. 



Some Implications 



It v/ould seem that modern evolutionary theory (and one 

 might add that there is remarkable convergence in theorizing 

 among those authorities v/ho concern themselves with the 

 problem of evolution) does explain both the continuity of the 

 species as well as the variety and similarities that occur 

 between forms that existed in the fossil record as well as 

 those to be found today. Although it is a consistent theory, 

 that is, it explains much that was once contradictory and does 

 it well, does this mean that the theory is good? No alternative 

 theories so far have come forth which equally well explain 

 phenomena of change both past and present. There is also 

 another consideration which must not be overlooked. A good 

 theory, it is often maintained in empirical sciences, must be 

 able to predict. It may be said that evolutionary theory cannot 

 predict forward; but to the paleontologist it has been very 

 helpful in "predicting backwards." That is to say, it has 

 served as a guide line for looking in certain places and in 

 certain strata in the crust of the earth to locate new materials 

 which gradually fill out the fossil record, and which may be 

 expected to do so at an ever increasing rate in the future. It 

 has also aided materially in discovering the now famous 

 Piltdown hoax. Theory demanded some other morphological 

 form than that of Piltdown man. But in the absence of any 

 reliable way of testing for its antiquity, the Piltdown skull 



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