From EvoWiki
Claim
Evolution promotes eugenics.
Source
Responses
- Evolution is a descriptive theory. It doesn't encourage eugenics any more than atomic theory encourages nuclear warfare. Some people may try to use the conclusions of science for their own purposes, but the theories can hardly be blamed for that.
- Eugenics is fundamentally a belief in the moral failure of Evolution. It seeks to, by design, alter the balance of the traits inherent in us. Thus, while it is a theory which requires the acceptance of microevolution as a force, it is a hostile response to the (perceived) inadequacy of Evolution.
- Since creationists accept microevolution, by their own reasoning they themselves encourage eugenics.
- Eugenics is largely of only historical interest. In the early 20th century many biologists were eugenicists (certainly not all), but so were many lay people. Similarly many religious leaders promoted eugenics at the time, including rabbis and protestant clergy who devoted sermons to eugenics, and claimed eugenics was sanctioned by the bible (Kevles 1985). Neither fact is particularly relevant today.
- The goals of Evolution and Eugenics are different because while eugenics seeks to create genetically perfect humans (whatever that means), evolution simply seeks to create organisms well adapted to their environment, so in fact evolution does not encourage eugenics.
- The point of eugenics is to attempt to achieve a "pure", homogeneous race (such as the "pure Aryan race"). Evolution, however, does not favor homogeneity. On the contrary, for a population to survive more easily in the changes of the environment, genetic diversity is favorable. Genetic homogeneity lessens a species' ability to adapt to diseases, parasites and often predators, as well. An inability to adapt to parasites and predators is the reason why the parthenogenic species of indigenous North American earthworms are restricted to unstable, fast-changing environments, such as decaying logs or rotting leaf matter, where very few parasites or predators live, such as cluster fly larvae and moles, rather than the ground proper, which abounds with predators and parasites.
- Eugenics is based on genetic principles that are independent of evolution. It is just as compatible with creationism, and in fact at least one young-earth creationist (William J. Tinkle) advocated eugenics and selective human breeding (Numbers 1992, 222-223).
- Many eugenics arguments, such as the expected effect of selective sterilization and the results of interracial mating, are based on bad biology. Better biology education, including the teaching of evolution, can only counter the assumptions on which eugenics is based.
- This claim contradicts "Darwinism encourages communism"
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Fallacies contained in this claim
External Links
- Mark Isaak's page for this claim [2]
- CreationWiki's comments [3]
- Wilkins, John, 2000. Evolutionists Against Eugenics; Post of the Month: November 2000. [4]
References
- Kevles, Daniel J., 1985. In The Name Of Eugenics. University of California Press.
See Also
Acknowledgments
