Even the Journal Science called this a myth way back in 2007. Yet it is still being presented used as a fact..
In 1975 human and chimpanzee DNA was compared. The result? They were 98.5% similar! (This was rounded up to 99% in most cases.) Proclaim it to the world! It's been proven! Humans and chimpanzees are related. Evolution is true!
But Wait! There is more to the story.
They did not compare all of the DNA. In making the comparison they selectively used portions of the human and chimpanzee DNA that were already known to be similar. In 1998, for the first time, the full genome of both chimpanzees and humans was compared. The result? About an 85% similarity. That's a huge difference. Millions of differences. Way, way more than could possibly happen in the six millions years (based on evolution) since the human and chimpanzee lines diverged.
The human-chimpanzee myth is BUSTED! But don't expected it to go away. Myths about evolution continue to be used to "prove" evolution.
To understand this one we need to understand evolution. Evolution is commonly defined simply as change. But, not all change is good. An old car left in a field is rusting away. It's changing. But is it getting better? No. There can be change that brings improvement and change that destroys. And there can be changes that are neither improvements nor harmful. These are called neutral changes.
What is observed in living organisms is that random mutations are harmful. These mutations, which are supposed the source of the change that drives evolution, are in fact devolutionary. They are harmful, degrading our fitness. But, what's interesting is that those harmful changes can have short term benefits. Dr, MIchael Behe (a biochemist) writes in his book "Darwin Devolves:"
"Now, several decades into the 21st century, ever more sophisticated studies demonstrate that, ironically, random mutation and natural selection are in fact fiercely devolutionary. It turns out that mutation easily breaks or degrades genes, which counterintuitively, can sometimes help an organization to survive."
This describes what is happening when a bacteria becomes resistant to an antibiotic. The bacteria has degraded. For example it may have lost the ability to metabolize the antibiotic. So the antibiotic no longer kills it. Or it may have lost the ability to move the antibiotic across the cell membrane. The antibiotic can no longer get into the cell to kill it. However, in every case the bacteria has lost an ability. It has degraded, and is actually overall weaker than it was before, even though it is now resident to the antibiotic.
The antibiotic resistance myth is BUSTED! But don't expected it to go away. Myths about evolution continue to be used to "prove" evolution. It doesn't matter if they are actually true or not.
Speciation - Evolution Happening Right Before Our Eyes
Fact Check: NOT TRUE
With this claim we are encountering a propaganda technique known as equivocation. What this means is that the definition of a word is being changed, with your knowing it. The word is "evolution."
It starts with evolution being defined as "change." Sometimes they just say "change over time." Sometimes they may say, "change in the genome." However it is said, it simply means change. And look at the different rabbits picture above. We see change... they look different. The ears are different. We see changes. We see different species of rabbits. It's evolution in action! Proof evolution is true, you can see it happening. The rabbits are changing!
Do you see where the definition of evolution changed?
The change came at the very beginning and at the end. When you hear the word "evolution" what comes to mind? An ape-like creature evolving to become a human. A dinosaur evolving to become a bird. You think of something evolving to become something completely different. But at the beginning "evolution" was defined simply as change. That's not the same thing as changing to become something different.
Yes, there are many species of rabbits. However, what are they? Rabbits. There are many species of cats. But, what are they all? Cats. They may be different sizes and colors and have different fur... but they are all still cats. That there are different species of rabbits or cats, does not provide any proof that a rabbit can evolve to become a cat, or a cat to become a rabbit. That would be evolution. What speciation proves is that evolution never happens. Why? Because cats always make more cats, no matter which species of cat they are. And rabbits ALWAYS make more rabbits (and a lot of them), no matter which species of rabbit they are.
The speciation is evolution myth is BUSTED! But don't expected it to go away. Myths about evolution continue to be used to "prove" evolution. It doesn't matter if they are actually true or not, as long as they convince people to believe in evolution.
