Should evolution be taught in schools?

[BeardofPants]

I'm reposting this, because you asked for the information, and duly ignored it.

Originally posted by BeardofPants
This will have to be short and sweet, as I have had a rough day, and I'm feeling very much the worst for it.

Evolution is not about enhancing the species, but about selecting for the best possible fitness. The environment (and hence, natural selection) is a big part of this process. Going into basic genetics, do you remember the terms phenotype and genotype? Well, the genotype is the coding part of DNA, and the phenotype is the observable phenomena (expression of a trait) of what the genotype coded for (basically.) So you could say that, the Environment + Genotype = phenotype. Thus, it is not really about the process of evolution keeping up, per se, but more that they go in tandem with one another. The environment is a powerful 'force', if you will, and goes hand in hand with natural selection. Also, environmental changes are very seldom sudden. They tend to be cyclic, and gradual. One of the key theories postulated for early bipedalism is one of semi-arborealism; the reason? - a gradual change in environment from densely wooded forrests, to sparsely wooded forrests, to open savannahs. As the trees thinned out (due to rising temperatures (and drier climates)), hominids were forced to travel greater distances between trees due to areas of open land, and hence, greater exposure to predators. Nobody is quite sure how exactly this lead to bipedalism, as at that stage, quadrupedalism would probably have been faster, but there may have been some reason that they needed to free up their hands... carrying food, or young? Anyway, what I'm trying to say, in a rather rambling fashion, is that although these early primates showed traits that lead us to believe that they were bipedal (slight funneling of the rib cage, longer femurs, a change in the line of balance angles, a "platform" in the metatarpal/tarpal region, etc), there were still arboreal adaptions (long arms, divergent big toe, etc.) So, from one environment to another (wooded forrests to open savannah) there is evidence that while new traits were being picked up, some of the old ones were being retained. Gradualism is the key word here.

I'll also mention that I subscribe to the theory of punctuated equlibrium, which basically means that evolution occurs in fits and starts; periods of activity, followed by periods of stasis.