The story of humans is really the story of life. Life evolved from replicating molecules and evolved into cells then colonies of cells then multicellular organisms... Like the root a tree with many branches, different forms of life diverged through geologic time. Some branches led to arthropods like insects and crustaceans, some branches led to mollusks like snails and squid and some to vertebrates. We are of the vertebrate branch.
The sequence of vertebrate life is basically fish, then amphibians, then reptiles and reptiles split into mammals and birds. Mammals branched into many different types including the primates. Primates diverged into a few types such as prosimians, monkeys, and apes. Apes diverged into chimps, gorillas, and hominids. Hominids branched into some different extinct forms and us. Homo sapiens.
We are not the end product of evolution. We are at the tip of one of the branches of the tree (or bush really) of life. We are special in our ability to think, reason and even question and understand how we ourselves came about. That is pretty special.
There are some who give credit to a magical supernatural creator for our existence and others who claim that we don't know. The truth is that the process of evolution is understood well and agreed upon by every legitimate biology or geology organization out there. Go to any non-religious university's website and check out the biology department page and you'll notice that evolution is the only science regarding the origins and diversity of life. It's only non-experts and religious literalists who claim otherwise.
The sequence of vertebrate life is basically fish, then amphibians, then reptiles and reptiles split into mammals and birds. Mammals branched into many different types including the primates. Primates diverged into a few types such as prosimians, monkeys, and apes. Apes diverged into chimps, gorillas, and hominids. Hominids branched into some different extinct forms and us. Homo sapiens.
We are not the end product of evolution. We are at the tip of one of the branches of the tree (or bush really) of life. We are special in our ability to think, reason and even question and understand how we ourselves came about. That is pretty special.
There are some who give credit to a magical supernatural creator for our existence and others who claim that we don't know. The truth is that the process of evolution is understood well and agreed upon by every legitimate biology or geology organization out there. Go to any non-religious university's website and check out the biology department page and you'll notice that evolution is the only science regarding the origins and diversity of life. It's only non-experts and religious literalists who claim otherwise.
