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What can I ramble on about this time? How about....
Can people learn how evolution works? Every time I've asked someone about it (which has been, like, 4 times mrgreen ), the best reply is "If evolution is really real, then why are there still monkeys?" or "Gawd kreated lief" or something that if you studied (yes, study *gasp*) evolution, then you would not even be asking questions like that in fear of looking quite stupid in front of your peers (or whoever you are debating with). P.S. No, I'm not disclaiming intelligent design, for all of you fanatics who think I might be. I'm also not trying to shove common descent on others who might think that I'm the fanatic.
Point 1). Evolution is not that hard a concept to understand. Really, it isn't. If you know a substantial amount of genetics (and by substantial, I mean paying attention in biology class), then it really isn't hard. Point 1 wasn't really a point, was it? Oh well, moving on.
Point 2). Evolution, by no means, discredits Creationism. Some people can tie it together. The problem is when someone ignorantly thinks so and automatically discredits it, even in the face of evidence.
Point 3). Evolution is testable. Just go make babies. What was different about the kids and you? Who are they more similar to? You just proved micro evolution works. Macro is a little harder. By the way, I'm talking about Micro when I'm talking about evolution, not macro since there is not circumstantial evidence for it.
Point 4). The whole "monkey" crap is, well, crap. I don't think anyone has ever stated that people come from chimps (and if they did, they are probably wrong). We came from a common ancestor. No, not monkeys, a Common Ancestor.
Point 5). Have you ever heard of "Darwin's Finches"? If not, let me tell you a story. A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, Darwin went to the Galapagos Islands. He saw a lot of different kinds of finches on the islands. They were similar to the finches on the mainland, but they had some differences. One trait that he noted was the beak type. Some had big beaks for crushing nuts, and others had long, thin beaks for sucking nectar (or something to do with fruits, but you get the point mrgreen )etc. He found the birds with large beaks were more numerous on the islands with trees that had nuts, and more of the long narrow beaks on the island with fruits, and etc. He concluded that the birds more aptly suited to the surrounding area would grow stronger, reproduce more often, and (more likely) pass on the gene for whatever was needed in order to survive, which is "Natural Selection" in a nutshell. Now, let's apply this to something closer to home, shall we? A long time ago, somewhere in Africa, there was a primate who walked on all fours (think a monkey), but it was an, I guess you could say, earlier form of a monkey. These "primates" often traveled in small, isolated groups. Then, a mutation happened in an infants genes when it was conceived. This mutation made it's body more suited to walking bipedally (in other words, on two legs). This mutation made it able to use it's arms for other things besides walking, like using a stick to fend off enemies. This gave the animal the ability to live more efficiently, letting it reproduce more, and have a higher chance of passing on it's bipedalism on to its offspring. After a few generations, you have quite a few of these animals walking on two legs. Now, for some reason, they start to spread out. Maybe there isn't enough resources, I don't know, but that isn't the point. The point is that they start moving off. The gene is dominant now. Eventually, the group becomes so different from the other groups that they cannot reproduce together. Obviously, the other groups aren't just sitting there picking their nose. They are also changing and mutating into things like gorillas, chimps, and other primates we are so familiar with. See, evolution isn't that hard. Now, are you going to say "why are monkeys still here?". Let's hope not. mrgreen Please tell me of any errors anywhere, if there is any. That's my thought on it, I might add more later. Right now, I'm tired of typing and you're probably bored of reading.