[Ethan Clive Osgoode]

Not having the intellectual framework readily at hand, leaves one open to the "well if man evolved from the apes, how come there are still apes" questions which would be dismissed by the biologist with Wolfgang Pauli's famous line, "It's not even wrong"

Actually this is an interesting question for a number of reasons. First, if it is so easy to dismiss, why do the responses to this objection almost invariably involve specious analogies with Great Britain and so on? I would like to see a response based on evolutionary science, not specious analogies. Next, Darwin did say that natural selection always preserves favorable variations and always destroys unfavorable variations. If that is so, we may not only wonder why there are still apes, we may also wonder how it came to be that there is more than one species on earth.

[From many - one.]

Since you got “what Darwin said” wrong, I’d suggest you look that up before you ask for explanations of your misconceptions.

[Ha Ha Thats Very Logical]

if it is so easy to dismiss, why do the responses to this objection almost invariably involve specious analogies with Great Britain and so on?

Because it's a response on a level appropriate to the question. Someone who could ask that question seriously doesn't have a very good understanding of the ToE. If they can get to the point where they can see the flaws in the analogy, they should be able to see why the original question is stupid in the first place.

Next, Darwin did say that natural selection always preserves favorable variations and always destroys unfavorable variations. If that is so, we may not only wonder why there are still apes, we may also wonder how it came to be that there is more than one species on earth.

"Favorable" doesn't mean "best." Favorable vs. unfavorable really just means works vs. doesn't work. Grizzly bears and mice both work fine--they do really different things, but they each do them well. Humans and apes also both work fine.

[grey_whiskers]

Think of local fitness maxima, not global.

Are you the best fit to the *local* environment?

Also, sometimes new species will arise not by supplanting old ones, but by exploiting new niches unavailable to the old, while having little enough competition for those resources which they share a need for, that they do not replace the old species.

That's why (2nd Amendment) there are still knives, even after we developed guns. Just don't bring the knife *to* the gunfight, or you will win a Darwin Award. :-)

Cheers!