"Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution" said Theodosius Dobzhansky, who was both an evolutionary biologist and a Christian. This famous statement was the title of his 1973 essay which argued for education of evolution in public schools.
Regardless of how you may feel about evolution and its compatibility with religion(and this is a touchy subject for many people), I have a fun thought experiment proposal: whenever you observe a phenomenon, think of an evolutionary biology explanation for such facts!
For certain facts it is rather easily and the answers are readily available, like, why can't women run as fast as men? Or, why can't humans produce 500 babies at once like flies do? Or why do we go to sleep at night? etc etc. Recently I read an article on development of gossip as explained by evolutionary biology. Gossip Girl has biology to thank!
But try to come up with explanations for other things you observe & how they may be explained by evolutionary biology. It doesn't matter if your explanation makes sense. It doesn't even matter if the phenomenon itself is true! :)
1. Why do people laugh?
2. Why do people like climbing trees?
3. Why do girls go to restroom in groups? (the focus being: why don't guys do it?)
4. Why do people obsess over celebrities (including pseudo-celebs, like reality TV shows!)?
funny evolution-related cartoon.
Here's a fun read from the Scientific American: Why do men have nipples? mentioning both the "request" for evolutionary biologists to explain observed facts, and the answer to the question in the title.
For those looking for a provocative and interesting (longer) read: The Faith Instinct by Nicholas Wade, a New York Times writer, who argues that religion developed by natural selection because it enhances a group's survival. Now that's an interesting twist on the complicated relationship between evolution and religion.
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