Letters to the Living

There are four principal tenets of Darwin's Theory of Evolution. 1. Gradualism -- Taken from 19th century developments in geological science, gradualism is the view that formative processes take place gradually over very long periods of time. 2. Continuously occurring accidental mutations -- Mutations are always occurring in biological forms, at all levels, at all times, and at an even rate. So there is constant change in the shapes of species. Nothing is standing still. 3. Randomness -- Mutations in biological forms are random and have no direction, pattern, or purpose. Evolution has no design or intention. 4. Natural Selection -- Selection of the fittest specimens by natural forces like competition for limited food resources, mating preferences, and predators, effectively selects certain traits and leaves others to go extinct. Those with a new trait that forms by random mutation that is more conducive to survival eventually replace those without the trait. This is what they call