Question responses

What is the theory of evolution?

Evolution is the theory that everything evolves and changes with time because of natural selection. Natural selection is based on survival of the fittest. That means that the animals and plants that are adapted the best to their environment will survive long enough to be able to reproduce and pass on their genes. While the ones that aren't that well adapted will die at a younger age and fewer will grow old enough to pass on their genes. As a result of this, a species is able to slowly evolve if needed. This theory also suggests that all animals and plans have the same ancestor and that's why we can see similarities in structure and function between different animals. Some animals are more closely related witch means that they have more things in common and have a more recently shared ancestor, like humans and monkeys. 

Who is Charles Darwin?

Charles Darwin was born in 1809 and in 1831 he went on a voyage to the Galapagos Islands, 500 miles west of South America. This is where he noticed that each of the islands had their own version of a kind of finch. They were all very similar but they all had some special feature that was a benefit to the specific island where they lived. This is when he thought that maybe they had all evolved from the same finch but adapted differently to the different environments. Darwin worked his theory of natural selection for 20 years and when he found out the Alfred Russel Wallace had similar ideas they came together and announced their ideas in 1858. 

What is evolutionary psychology? 

Evolutionary psychology is the theory that the functions of our brain and our behaviors is the result of evolution. As our ancestors leaned how to deal with problems and how to make things as easy as possible and taught these things to their children they evolved a new behavior and now we do it without thinking about it. An example of evolutionary psychology is language. Humans started using language to make communication easier and it made them able to express more complex thoughts and now all humans use it for everyday life.