In response to Chris Major’s Letter to the Editor on April 16:

(1) The writer asks how evolution, which is made up of “random, unguided steps,” can produce creatures with better attributes?

The misunderstanding a lot of people make is thinking about a single entity “evolving” into something else. But it doesn’t work that way. In all species there is a lot of variation (mutations) that exist in the population. Just look at the variations in humans: Tall, short, brown eyes, blue eyes, those who can eat certain foods, and those who are allergic to them. These are simple examples; we also have people born with six toes, or women with three breasts. So, again, in a large population you already have a large variation in that species. When conditions “get tough,” for example food gets scarce, then those who have an advantage to live longer and reproduce more will have more offspring, and move the overall population in their direction (genetically).

(2) Mr. Major says that he acknowledges that microevolution (within a species) can occur, but not macroevolution. That’s like saying erosion can put a ditch in my driveway but doesn’t cause (some) valleys to form. There are huge time scales involved for large-scale evolution.

(3) Finally, I know that these kinds of discussions do almost no good, because NO amount of scientific evidence will convince those who are predisposed to interpret all of the Bible literally. It seems to me that those who are taking the Bible literally (in their translation) are boxing God in to their simplistic understanding. They will rave that God is greater than we can even imagine, yet think that a few sentences in the Bible is an accurate description of the enormous complexity seen in this grand universe.

JAMES FULTON

Post Falls