Evo·lu·tion

What is evolution? What does it mean? "Evolution", as used by most people, refers to a process of random mutations in species that, over millions of years, has supposedly resulted in all the organisms alive today. Evolution has many meanings, as can be shown by our good friend, Webster's dictionary:

Definition of EVOLUTION

1

: one of a set of prescribed movements

2

a : a process of change in a certain direction : unfoldingb : the action or an instance of forming and giving something off : emissionc (1) : a process of continuous change from a lower, simpler, or worse to a higher, more complex, or better state : growth (2) : a process of gradual and relatively peaceful social, political, and economic advanced : something evolved

3

: the process of working out or developing

4

a : the historical development of a biological group (as a race or species) : phylogenyb : a theory that the various types of animals and plants have their origin in other preexisting types and that the distinguishable differences are due to modifications in successive generations; also : the process described by this theory

5

: the extraction of a mathematical root

6

: a process in which the whole universe is a progression of interrelated phenomena

We can see that among all the definitions, number 4 is the one we are interested in. However, even within this definition, There are 6 major types of evolution that must have happened for the world we live in to have come from the "Big Bang". They are:

Cosmic evolution: the origin of time, space, and matter from nothing in the “big bang”
Chemical evolution: all elements “evolved” from hydrogen
Stellar evolution: stars and planets formed from gas clouds
Organic evolution: life begins from inanimate matter
Macro-evolution: animals and plants change from one type into another
Micro-evolution: variations form within the “kind”

Only this last one has ever been shown to happen, and it happens all the time. For example, that's how we have so many kinds of dogs, cats, and types of bills on finches. No scientist that I have heard of disagrees with that micro-evolution happens. However, none of the other kinds have ever been observed happening, and there is no evidence that they ever did. I mean, how does gold evolve from hydrogen? How does DNA evolve from mud? It just doesn't happen! What does happen, though, is that people are taught that micro-evolution occurs (which is true), and then told that that proves that the others occurred as well (which is just plain false). This is how all lies (not just the lie of goo-to-you evolution) are taught; mix a little truth in with the lie, and people will believe both the truth and the lie together. So when (or if) you get into a debate with someone about evolution (or any other topic, for that matter), make sure you define the terms first. In the case of evolution, once you define what kind of evolution you are talking about, it makes it much easier to make a good argument against it. Whatever you do, though, don't let them pull you into the part truth, part lie trap.