Just about 170 miles from the very spot where I’m writing this blog entry is the “Creation Museum” in Petersburg, Kentucky. It’s the most elaborate pseudoscientific construction ever created, in an attempt to convince large groups of people that a particular view, one that includes creationism and intelligent design, is correct. The “museum” goes as far as presenting dioramas of humans and dinosaurs coexisting, sometimes in a Flintstonian manner.
On the surface it is a comedy, a farce of serious museums, and if it weren’t so obvious what the founders of this “museum” were trying to accomplish, I would laugh with everyone else. However, a brief glance at their website reveals their true target demographic, and their intentions. The directors of the “Creation Museum” are targeting children with their propaganda, their online content and the programs they sponsor. They are trying to alter the basic understanding of evolution in this country, furthering their own agendas at the cost of our children’s education, and understanding of the world.
Ever since Darwin discovered natural selection, evolutionary scientists have struggled against dogmatic zealots who have pushed their agendas and personal philosophies in efforts to bend science to their own ends. From Darwin’s main critic, Bishop Wilberforce, to the “Father of Intelligent Design” Phillip Johnson, J.D., philosophical and religious agendas have threatened the science of evolution from its inception.
In recent years, groups such as the National Center for Science Education have provided rock solid arguments invalidating ideas such as intelligent design and “creation science” as scientific approaches to the world. In fact, a brief examination of their platforms reveals that they are philosophical at best, and usually theological at their core. This is not a bad thing, however, it is not science. For ideas to be scientific in nature they must produce testable hypotheses. Seemingly eloquent, but in reality ignorant, presentations of the complexity of the human eye concluding that there must be an “intelligent designer” behind such intricate forms are not scientific.
Despite the fact that it is clearly obvious that ID and “creation science” are not scientific in nature, there is still active debate among members of the general public. This is reflected in a recent Gallup Poll, which showed that while a majority of respondents believe in evolution, they are unsure about how it proceeds, or the role, if any of “God”.
I was thinking about this issue the other day when I received an email from a student in my Human Evolution class, telling me that he couldn’t make it to class that day because he had to go get an infected wisdom tooth pulled. Now, I’ve heard a lot of excuses for missing class, but this was a first, and knowing the student, I knew he must be in a fair amount of pain. I sent him a quick reply wishing him a speedy recovery and telling him that I’d see him when he returned to class. While I was replying to him, though, and throughout the rest of the day, I couldn’t help but think about the third molars in modern humans and how most people in western and non-western cultures either have them extracted or deal with impacted teeth and infections SILVESTRI ET AL ’03.
While some have argued that our jaws actually have plenty of room for our third molars, or “wisdom teeth”, empirical data do not support this position. Further, when we look at examples of earlier specimens of Homo sapiens we see that they had plenty of space for their third molars, or “wisdom teeth” TRINKAUS ET AL ’03.
These findings result in several observations and hypotheses and conclusions. First, third molars are useful in processing tough, gritty, grainy foods. Second, early humans had more space in their jaws than do modern-day humans . Third, human females prefer males with smaller, more feminine faces as long-term partners . Fourth, modern human populations eat softer, more processed food than earlier populations of humans did. These hypotheses can be tested, some have already, and the vast majority of studies support them.
Interestingly, the ID argument against hypotheses about reduction in third molars, often invoke evolutionary explanations, just without a connection to apes. In his article “Are wisdom teeth (third molars) vestiges of human evolution?” Jerry Bergman begins with this frame,
“A major conclusion of evolution is that the human jaw has shrunk from its much larger ape size to the smaller modern human size as humans evolved.”
In that initial wording in the Introduction to his article, Mr. Bergman reveals his bias and his primary issue. This is more obvious in his conclusion, when, after not providing any objective data he states that,
“The most important factor is probably diet, but the influence of other factors including mutations, needs to be examined more fully to understand why wisdom teeth are more often a problem today. The once common belief that wisdom teeth problems are related to putative evolutionary modifications has now been discredited…”. (emphasis added)
Diet (i.e. food) is one of the most important selective forces in all of evolution. Animal traits evolve in direct response to the foods they eat. Further, mutation is the source of all new variation in evolution and critical for evolution to occur. Both of the explanations used by Mr. Bergman are evolutionary in nature. It seems that the only way the Mr. Bergman can discredit ideas of humans evolving from apes is for humans to have evolved in a different way. Just a quick note to Mr. Bergman: We are apes, get over it.
The evidence all suggests that modern humans have undergone simultaneous sexual selection for smaller faces, and a relaxing of natural selection on the processing capabilities of our dentition, resulting in the current condition we observe across human populations. Adults who regularly need to have their third molars removed surgically, to prevent impaction, infection and extreme dental crowding. All of this has led me to ask the question, “How Intelligent Can a Designer be That Gave Humans “Wisdom Teeth?”
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June 4, 2011 at 1:10 am
Leah Miracle
Being one of those superior, select hominins born without a single embedded wisdom tooth — thank the evolution gods :} — your article tells me that perhaps I am the scion of thousands of people (women?) who chose smaller more feminine faces for long-term partnership. This logic is farcical representation of the logical ‘stretch’ you make from creation museums to intelligent design to wisdom teeth to female mate selection and back to intelligent design, but I can see how the stretch operates…just creatively.
Mr. Bergman seems to checkmate himself: the quotes you gave support evolution and the selection of mutations beneficial for a diet increasingly lower in rough plant matter, commensurate with the selection of smaller-faced males by females as pair-bonding evolves in tandem. Checkmate on himself. How, though, does this last assumption hold up, because not all offspring are from females who’ve chosen lower-testosterone males with optimum fidelity?
Browsing the Creation Museum’s mock-modern (how modern are these claims?) website, one that tries to appear scientific-to-undermine-science, I found a description of a display on Natural Selection: it reads
“Enjoy the wonders of God’s Creation as you uncover what natural selection can and cannot do. In this special exhibit, examine an aquarium that resembles a real cave. This cave aquarium features live blind cavefish, showing how natural selection allows organisms to possess characteristics most favorable for a given environment—but it is not an example of evolution in the molecules-to-man sense. You’ll also uncover the truth about antibiotic resistant bacteria.
Where does it advance ‘Intelligent Design’? From above it seems to support natural selection but not molecules-to-man sacrilegious evolutionism. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria must be God’s masterwork, right, if they can resist scientific masterwork antibiotic??
Even more farfetched than LeBron and BinLaden…but good.
June 4, 2011 at 6:57 pm
Katie Denning
While I agree that the Creation Museum has taken some liberties with the historical accuracy of facts, like dinosaurs and humans together, I think their goal is first and foremost to discredit any other theories besides that of Intelligent Design. Having been there, the whole museum is most definitely created for the mind of a child or younger audience, and after discrediting theories like the “big bang”, the only other option for a child would perhaps be Intelligent Design. As Leah mentioned above, the section on natural selection is based on characteristics that allow creatures to survive in their environments. The museum I think leaves room for evolution after creation, but I do not think the directors would say that out loud if given a chance. It’s kind of sad though that they resort to pushing one theory over the other instead of allowing people to make an informed and educated decision.
The evolution of wisdom teeth is most assuredly influenced by diet, as mentioned above, it is “one of the most important selective forces in all of evolution”. Depending on what foods are available, the formation of the dentition will shape to be most effective. Mr. Bergman also lists mutations as what appears to me to be an alternative to the evolutionary process, when it should be a key indicator.
June 4, 2011 at 8:40 pm
Brittany McLaren
My intermediate family of 4, including myself, all has at least 2 of their wisdom teeth; however none of us need them removed. This is not because we have room in our mouths, but instead, because they are not piercing through our gums (at least not yet, and according to the dentist, they never will). That being said, it is interesting to think about early Homo sapiens having room for these, while we do not. Like stated, our diet has a lot to do with the evolutionary changes in our bodies. Just because there is evolution though, does not mean there cannot be a creator. Dinosaurs existed way before humans in time, but who is to say the creator did not plan things this way. Who is to say evolution has not taken course based on a designer’s plans? Clearly, early humans needed wisdom teeth for the foods they ate, therefore to ask how intelligent could a designer be, the answer would be “very”. Yes, we currently are having problems as a population and there are plenty of members in our society who do need surgical removals of their wisdom teeth, but what if this is all part of the evolutionary course? If we didn’t have the medicine and tools capable of removing these teeth, would the generations after us have them, or would future humans evolve to having a jaw without them? Even with these tools, could it not be possible that we eventually will evolve to mouths without wisdom teeth? Not to mention, those who do have room for their wisdom teeth that came through the gums, and have never removed them, have a better time chewing through tough meats and other grainy foods that those without these teeth cannot. So how can we question the intelligence of our creator, when we haven’t even seen the future and have yet to understand where evolution is heading?
June 5, 2011 at 9:19 pm
Shay Workman
This has been something that I’ve pondered on for awhile. Ever since I learned about our wisdom teeth when I was younger, I questioned why we needed them if no one used them. Why should they be in there if we just need to get them taken out anyway? This was before I understood concepts of evolution, but now that I have all of that information under my belt, I can make the assumption that we are simply viewing the process of natural selection against third molars since our jaws have shortened in length and we no longer need those extra molars to grind hard, fibrous materials.
I mentioned this discussion to my roommate, specifically the bit where females are choosing men with smaller jaws for mates, and she jokingly commented on that’s why fewer females like the built-like-the-Hulk body type with massive jaws that look like they could break steel, which seems legit enough to me. It seems that we are simply seeing natural selection at work. Some individuals aren’t even born with their third molars at all (lucky bastards…). Are they more evolutionarily advanced? Maybe possibly. Or they could be mutated freaks of nature. It’s a toss-up.
June 6, 2011 at 2:58 pm
Seth
There is a creation museum?! This reminds me of when I was on a dinosaur excavation in Montana and some conservative religious nut hiked all the way to our dig to tell us “Jesus put the dinosaur bones in the hills to test us”. When we asked for tangible evidence she lifted her bible and preceded to tell us we had a one way ticket to hell. I find it amazing that some (not all) religious people are so indoctrinated with religion that they lack the ability to reason or even ponder ideals that go against what was drilled in their heads in Sunday school. I digress….
Being the panicle product of millions of years of human evolution, even I have pondered why I had to get my wisdom teeth removed. I mean my teeth weren’t that crowded and I wasn’t having pain at all. Then I figured it out, modern science is constantly trying to get ahold of the unique and pristine examples of evolution in action. So my teeth were extracted and rigorously studied to discover what the next stage in human evolution will be. I would have brought them into class but they put them in a wooden crate and stored them in some government warehouse in area 51.
June 6, 2011 at 9:03 pm
gwennanrichmond
Speaking as someone that never got their wisdom teeth I think I credibly speak to the fact that they haven’t been missed. 🙂
Growing up I had braces at a pretty young age (7) and I remember my parents being told that the majority of those that have braces will have to have their wisdom teeth out later on. So you can imagine my relief when that day never came, but since we’re talking about the role of medical intervention regarding wisdom teeth I can’t help but notice that so far there has been no mention of braces. I mean their entire purpose is to rearrange your teeth, which seemingly would impact the space left for wisdom teeth because they typically come in after most kids get their braces off, right? So this makes me wonder to what extent they, being often a generally cosmetic process (although not always) are also acting along with processed food as an evolutionary selection against wisdom teeth?
June 6, 2011 at 10:51 pm
Alex Maza
Very interesting thoughts Dr. Sherrow, something I never took into consideration. I have heard many arguments by ID proponents. I have seen someone hold up a banana and discuss how perfect the banana was formed formed for the human hand. The continued on to say that the stem is much like a tab on cans, making it easy for humans to eat; thus making it an obvious indicator of ID. However, they completely ignored the fact that bananas have been changed considerably by humans through selective agricultural practices and now Genetically Modified food. The only intelligence in the design from bananas were the intelligence humans used to modify them.
It is a natural human response to ask the questions of how we got here, but when individuals ignore empirical evidence it can get quite frustrating. What is even more frustrating is that no amount of reasonable discussion works for some people. They will be stuck in their ways despite how many facts you throw at them. I was reading the post you put up earlier about Jerry Coyne’s response to some of BioLogos’ behavior and in it there was a quote from their president Falk, “I don’t mean that I’m praying they will come to accept that God created through evolution. Most people are not scientists and they are too busy doing other important things to explore the science.” I think this is a problematic stance and it connects to what Jerry Bergman was doing. We should not be taking a non-scientific approach to understanding science. Also, we need to give average citizens a strong general understanding about most fields. If we increase the general intelligence level of our citizens then we can increase the intelligence level of our conversations in the media. That would prevent many of the idiots out there in the political field from coming out.
June 6, 2011 at 11:18 pm
Jonathan Frisbee
I have been wanting an answer for thing question for about four years now. In high school I was in the “Health Tech” program and I was always interested on why humans have the third molars if they are often removed. My teacher at the time was just as clueless as I was but she always would give the answer “thats just what God gave us.” I am a strong believer in God and everything but I also am a strong believer in the belief of human evolution. One would think that if these molars are constantly being removed from individuals because they are messing up the other teeth, that over time evolution would come into play and remove them from out anatomy. I think that since some people are born without them then we may be in a transition period. I think that since our diet has changed dramatically from our predecessors, that our anatomy will have some slight tweaks as well.
Also after reading this article , I have discovered why every female is not attracted to me: I do not have a smaller, more feminine face. After reading that part of the article I asked my girlfriend if she preferred men with faces that are smaller and more feminine but she said no, she liked faces like mine (I think she said that just because I’m her boyfriend and she didn’t want to make me angry). One final note to Dr. Sherrow: I used the excuse when I was in high school that I had an unbearable tooth ache and the teachers bought it. I guess there was karma though because about a month later my third molars started to grow in and I had to have them removed.
June 7, 2011 at 3:43 pm
Colleen Boyle
After reading this post, as well as some of the responses, I felt the need to scout around this creation museum’s website and see what I could find. Needless to say, as a strong believer in evolution, the website, creationmuseum.org, was pretty funny. Starting with ‘The Walk through Biblical History’ : “[t]his walk through history is the centerpiece of the Creation Museum and features amazing scientific and biblical answers for the world we live in today.” I really do not see any answers that combine science and religion on this website but rather many strange theories. Moving on to the dinosaur exhibit: “biblical history is the key to understanding dinosaurs.” That one took me for quite a shock… I attended a Catholic school from Preschool to 8th Grade, then a Jesuit school for high school, never once were dinosaurs included in any biblical history lessons I experienced. That aside, my favorite part of the website would have to be: “Enjoy the wonders of God’s Creation as you uncover what natural selection can and cannot do [. . .] This cave aquarium features live blind cavefish, showing how natural selection allows organisms to possess characteristics most favorable for a given environment—but it is not an example of evolution in the molecules-to-man sense.” How is that not an example of evolution? It’s interesting how quickly they discredit it without offering any logic. I kind of want to go to this museum, just to see how they ‘effectively’ (I use the word loosely) argue that.
Okay, so now that my tangent is over, I think the third molar issue is very interesting. I am one of the few that are lucky enough not have one, so, thankfully I do not have to worry about missing class for it to be removed (whew). So, I am torn, wondering whether I am part of some small portion of society that has a mutation that is prevalent throughout evolution, or if we are all in a transition period due to the changes of our diets? I lean more towards the latter, to me it seems most likely. It is interesting that females tend to choose “males with smaller, more feminine faces as long-term partners.” Surely there must be more than one assumed reason for this… what are they?
June 7, 2011 at 4:57 pm
Kristina Hauptmann
These comments are all making me wonder for how long humans have been eating a “softer” diet that does not require a third set of molars. For how long did humans eat tough, fibrous, grainy foods before the diet changed, and for what reasons? If it has been a long time, then it makes very little sense why many humans should still develop wisdom teeth. I realize that traits can evolve quite slowly, but when something such as dental crowding can cause serious problems such as tooth decay, gum disease, or other infections, one would think that human bodies would evolve rather quickly to eliminate the third molars. Dr. Sherrow asks how intelligent a designer could be to bestow wisdom teeth–I would challenge him by asking how sensible nature could be in continuing to select for wisdom teeth.
On the other hand, with the development of better medical care, people have been able to successfully remove wisdom teeth before they cause too many problems. Perhaps this is actually working to humans’ disadvantage. If more people with their third molars contracted infections and died, nature would be selecting for humans without third molars, no? This also makes me wonder for how long have humans been removing their wisdom teeth. And in what parts of the world? Tooth extraction can also be dangerous and lead to infections, so it might be also that removal of the molars is equally disadvantageous to survival.
This subject is a difficult one to tackle. There seem to be so many possibilities and so many unknowns regarding wisdom teeth.
June 7, 2011 at 6:51 pm
Shannon Vance
Thank goodness for the fact that my Dad doesn’t have wisdom teeth and for passing that trait on to me. Maybe I’ll never be “wise,” but I can live with that…
Anyway, as far as the creation museum goes, I had heard of this place from some of my coworkers at the restaurant where I waitress during breaks from school. One of the other waitresses there had just taken her granddaughter there, where apparently they had a great time and everything was really neat and amazing. She brought a brochure from the place into work with her and everyone else was looking at it and talking about how they really wanted to go, etc. etc. Of course, I had a look at it, too, and was a bit shocked that anyone would buy that. I remember being especially confused about the dinosaur thing. To get to the point, this might sound a little bit unkind, but I would say that while the museum’s main target might be children, it seems as though it is pretty effective at reaching less educated people, as well. Of course, people with less education would be more likely to be confused by or disbelieving of evolution, in general. They could also be far more easily persuaded that the information put forth by the museum is scientific and based in fact.
As far as the title of this blog goes, maybe it’s “intelligent design” because God created us to be smart enough to figure out how to get rid of them? Just kidding. Clearly, we just don’t need them anymore, the selective pressures that call for third molars are off, and our species is just losing them. It’s becoming common for people to never develop third molars at all, like myself. It seems pretty basic to me.
June 8, 2011 at 5:49 pm
Benjamin Clemens
Yes, I will attest this so called “Flaw” in our human design. I have been through pain before, but an infection inside of the mouth is truly immobilizing. I very much doubt that I, in the natural world without modern medicine, would have been able to survive an ordeal such as this. It required a huge amount of antibiotics, lots of sleep, and pain meds (which I know I could have gone without, but I’d like to see someone go through that surgery without painmeds). In fact, I would not even label the procedure as “surgery,” to me surgery entails a very careful, and meticulous procedure where the patient is passed out, but this was not the experience that I had. My experience involved me being awake, while the surgeon held my face down with his left hand, which was used for opposing pressure, and yanking on the tooth with his right. I could only imagine how terrified I must have looked while this man was pulling out my tooth, probably similar to the man’s face in Alien as the creature busted out of his chest! In all seriousness though, I truly believe that many of our ancestors would not have been capable of surviving a severe infection caused by an erupted tooth. Incidentally, this would then encourage the selection of men with more feminine like characteristics for it would lead to the termination of the third molars in offspring which would increase their chance of survival.
I believe that the change in size of our jaws correlates directly to our change of food. It is evident that larger jaws mean rougher, grittier foods that require more energy and larger molars to thoroughly chew and swallow. Subsequently, a very different diet must have been obtained by our ancestors, and I would guess that the change occurred rather abruptly since we are still in the intermediate stages. This change in diet, quite possibly, could have been when humans were capable of making fire, and using it to cook with. Referencing the book we’re reading in class, Catching Fire, Richard Wrangham researches how the use of fire has been extremely advantageous to our species in such that we are able to attain many more calories from our food. I believe that there might be some overlap of when the jaw size begins to decrease and when fire begins to be used. Consequently, this is a change that we have been able to understand thoroughly and clearly through the evidence that is provided, and there should be no question or refute that this is not an existing intermediate stage of our evolution.
June 8, 2011 at 10:26 pm
Catelynn Moses
My whole family had to have their wisdom teeth removed, mine were removed surgically because of being impacted. Also, when I was younger, I had to have eight regular teeth removed before having braces put in place due to lack of space in my jaw. I can follow the connection between the selection for smaller jaws in males. Also, this makes me consider the book we read for class, Catching Fire. In class it was discussed how the apes needed larger jaw muscles and molars in order to chew the grains and greens that made up their diet. As more food resources became a part of the diet, there was no need for the larger sized jaws in males. This continues on to the involvement of fire in human evolution and their diet. Foods were more easily broken down and provided more sustenance for humans when cooked. Therefore, another reason came to be for smaller jaws. There was no need to waste the energy on chewing grains and foods that provided less nutrition.
June 9, 2011 at 12:02 am
Anastacia Garland
As many have mentioned before, Catching Fire explains the process upon which humans have manipulated and then created fire and used it to cook foods. Cooked foods are easier to process and as a result of eating softer foods for thousands of years, it makes sense that the jaws would not need to be as large, nor as many molars for the arduous processing of fibrous foods. Over time, these features can be evolutionarily lost, however, the jaw becoming smaller without the lack of the loss of the third molar (which is beginning to be a more recurring observation) causes the problem that we see today. As far as creationism, which I believe to be a load of crock, given my logical mindset, the presence of fossils as well as short term studies that show without plausible doubt the existence of evolution. The concept of intelligent design is inherently flawed given the useless and sometimes problematic vestigial structures in humans (eg appendix) as well as other potentially problematic mechanisms. The combined air intake and food intake pathway being separated by only a flap of tissue that may not always close/ open properly is only one of these “design flaws”. Humans evolved adequately enough to take over the planet, but our “specialization” in technology and excessive resource extraction will likely lead to our demise in far less time than some of our “so-called” primitive ancestors.
June 9, 2011 at 2:14 pm
jessica munday mcgee
The evolutionary process in and of itself is a very intelligent design- performed by pressures and contraints directly within the organism and by existing, immediate ecological influences. The diet adjustment has moved more swiftly than our teeth could keep up with. In a matter of time, our wisdom teeth will probably not form at all. And, I agree that diet is one of the most important factors in evolution. In fact, next to environmental fluctuations, I believe it is the most important factor. Anything you put into your body directly affects the chemical processes.
June 10, 2011 at 7:39 pm
Anya Cosse
I think that this is an interesting wrench in the intelligent design works. Although I don’t particularly believe in intelligent design or creationism, I don’t really have a problem with them. I think that’s why it’s hard for me to come up with a response for this post. I think it’s obvious that wisdom teeth are a vestigial characteristic. I think that evolution takes time and isn’t very predictable. I think this is a very good argument to make against the idea of intelligent design or creationism, or an interesting devil’s advocate.
However, even though I honestly have no affiliation or belief in creationism or intelligent design, it’s hard for me to answer this question. “How Intelligent Can a Designer be That Gave Humans “Wisdom Teeth?”. I think all signs point to no. But I really don’t have an interest in trying to debunk these ideas. I think that these groups would probably find an answer to this question somewhere, as these groups always seem to find the answers to these devil’s advocate type of questions.
I do however think it’s interesting to think about molars, and the number of people who believe that because they never acquired their molars they are more evolved than others. I wonder if they consider evolution to be something linier, with a goal in mind.
June 10, 2011 at 8:11 pm
Caitlyn Park
I suppose I am on the far end of the spectrum of human variation when it comes to the third molar issue. I have all four fully-formed wisdom teeth and they came in about four years before they were supposed to. They have never given me any problems and I actually have extra room in my jaw. So much so that I had braces to close gaps between my teeth. Oh, and I really don’t think I have an extra large looking mouth or anything before the jokes start coming to mind.
As for the creation “museum,” well that’s just a little depressing. I suppose everyone is entitled to their opinion, but they are obviously targeting children and less educated audiences. I find it difficult to believe that someone behind the scenes there doesn’t recognize the close-mindedness they are promoting. Then again, I suppose saying that there is no way humans rode dinosaurs is a little close-minded, except that there’s a little bit of physical evidence to support that claim.
An interesting thing I found while browsing their website is this: “Come see a variety of animal kinds (including a zonkey, a zorse, and wallabies) as you stroll through our family friendly petting zoo. Our zoo is designed to give guests a hands-on experience with some of God’s amazing creatures.”
Are they implying that God made zonkeys and zorses?
June 13, 2011 at 5:31 pm
Camille Kronk
The whole intelligent design concept has always seemed ridiculous to me. There’s a museum now too? This notion is far to evident in schools and educational programs in America. If parent wanted their kids to be taught creationism they would send them to bible school. Some schools are now implementing the strategy of teaching both evolution and creation-which would most likely just confuse kids more than anything.
As far as wisdom teeth are concerned, it seems they are just vestigial dental patterns of our ancestors, especially because more and more people are born without them. Why do we need them anyway? This could, however, just be a great indicator of human variation.
October 19, 2011 at 2:54 pm
Rachel Trumbull
Even though I think the idea of a creation museum is ridiculous, I think it’s their right to establish a museum of what they believe is true. I mean, there is a conspiracy museum, a museum of questionable medical devices, but that doesn’t mean everyone has to believe in conspiracies of lose faith in the medical world. We just have to establish what we believe to be true. It makes me so frustrated when I hear people talking about creation, but then they have no evidence to support their statements. I’ve heard someone say, “I don’t have an answer to that, I would have to think about it” and it was just a basic question about evolution. Yeah, we don’t know for sure that everything that is found is related to our evolutionary line, but at least it is concrete evidence of something happening in the past. Personally, I don’t think you can base anything off a book that was written years in the past that might not even be true. I grew up not religious at all, I’ve never read the Bible, and so I hate seeing ignorant people who base everything they say off the Bible.
Anyways… I think the primary cause in the evolution of the jaw is definitely our diet. We’ve evolved to eating softer, easier to digest foods, so we don’t need the big molars anymore to chew the food. We’ve been discussing in class the idea the cooking food one, if not the, most important factor in evolution because it made it easier to eat and digest while giving us more energy. I don’t understand how we can study species evolving within our own lifetime and creationists don’t believe it happens.
October 20, 2011 at 12:30 am
Ron Hedrick
What comes to mind here is the importance of separating sceince and belief. The main concern between the two is falsifiability. In that creation theory does not allow for any form of falisfiability so therefore should not be concerned in the realm of science unless it is in someway called upon by science. What I cant understand is that if creation theory were to open itself up more to the idea of evolution they may be able to win an argument of a intelligent design through the eyes of evolution one that was not focused on a duality of our world and the after life.
What we can explain through evolution can truly benefit us however if creationists dont allow for this school of thought to be introduced to future generations were only prolonging the inevitable. eventually we cannot deny the facts evolution is at work and can be proven much more than a creation story however if we accept evolution and begin reviewing creaiton hopefully one day the two may be able to find some commong ground.
October 21, 2011 at 4:39 am
Kevin Michael Briggs
Yeah, the Creation Museum’s pretty bullshit. I trust in parents’ discretion to shield their children from such one-sided illusionary propaganda, just as I’m sure the parents who take their children to the Creation Museum shield their children from all those evolutionists, who they likely explain as delegates of the anti-christ.
I often wonder at what point religion began to develop. I’m sure it first began as very simple animism – a respect, probable slight fear / personification and worshipping of the environment and other natural identities existing. What interests me most, is at what point certain ancestors of we modern humans realized that they could play on these natural observances and manipulate the behavior of others. This, I feel, is the point at which religion developed into the role that it has played in human societies for the past few thousand years, if not earlier.
I also feel that a more easily appreciated aspect of early religion was probably either an effort, or consequence of a trend to, patternize aspects of behavior that are most beneficial to the society or band of organisms in general. It would become a continuation from generation to generation, propelling behavioral characteristics that benefit, and limiting those that have proven threatening to the group.
October 28, 2011 at 2:15 am
Crystal Reedy
This is the image that should have been posted as the first link in my blog response instead of the super model haha:
Big jaw female:
December 11, 2015 at 5:13 am
Mm
😘
November 7, 2011 at 2:14 pm
Kate
Wisdom teeth are stupid. Anyone who was lucky enough to never have them I am jealous of. I had braces in middle school which was not a fun experiece as anyone who had them will tell you. But, when I got them off and my teeth were straight and beautiful it was all worth it. Then, my wisdom teeth started to come in and shift everything around. All those years of emotional and physical pain from braces and these stupid wisdom teeth were going to mess it all up. So, naturally my parents got me into the doctor to have them removed immediatly. And I’m sure you all know that getting your wisdom teeth out is not a cheap expense. Perhaps God gave us wisdom teeth because he wanted to make sure doctors could afford their Astin Martins. Or, maybe it’s some kind of test to see how we deal with stress and/or if we are smart enough to take something out when it could cause permament long term damage. In that case I will proudly say that I was smart enough; does that mean I can go to heavan?! OK, rant over.
As for the reason why humans evolved to not have room for wisdom teeth in our mouths I think it all started with mate selection and dietary changes. As Bergman notes, “the most important factor is probably diet”. Humans started making fire which enabled us to eat softer, more easily digestible foods. Humans also began to like mates with smaller faces. At some point women realized that huge, testosteroine driven men were immature meat heads. Now of course not ALL big men are like this, but I have noticed even today that this seems to be the case. I once read a study that said that the more testosteroine a male has the more likely he is to get divorced, or never get married in the first place. No wonder we started liking males that have softer, more caring features. These men where the ones who stuck around to help raise the kids and didn’t abuse their wives just because they were cranky. So really it all comes down to the fact that women became smarter. : )
November 13, 2011 at 3:28 am
Liz Michael
I always saw religion as a force of control. Even when I was really young and my parents made me sit through church, I remember just feeling a general sense of extreme discomfort and refusal to take anyone’s word for anything. I’m not saying that religion is all bad; it has some great qualities for some people. The Creation Museum is just weird. I feel like it is about trying to maintain control as more scientific evidence is discovered in the world. That way, if things are discovered in the world that they do not want people to question and interpret, they just say, “No, it is THIS way because God said so”. Something like that.
November 13, 2011 at 10:42 pm
Meggan Riley
I would go to the Creation Museum if it were closer or if I had more free time; I could use a good giggle. In fact, if you want an immediate giggle, Google “did modern humans coexist with dinosaurs?” You’ll have to wade through, well, a lot of religious “facts” before finding any sort of scientific answer that utilizes crazy notions like physical evidence, or dates, etc. I find religions (but not necessarily religious people) fascinating. Being raised by an Irish Protestant father and Irish Catholic mother I was never taken to church when I was growing up. But that’s neither here nor there.
I agree with the theories of reduced jaw size and dietary change in regards to the lack of space that we have for third molars. So that having been said, my top wisdom teeth have actually come in normally with no affect on my jaw, no impaction, etc. none of that. (However it was about a 2 year process between the two of them. There’s a reason we don’t really remember cutting teeth as children; it bloody hurts. A lot.) Does this make me an evolutionary throwback with an exceptionally larger jaw? Doubt it. Did my ancestors secretly chow down on raw foods and uncooked flesh? Maybe. Is it more likely that since I never had braces my teeth are already slightly crooked, have uneven spacing, and leave more space for wisdom teeth to erupt? Yeah that seems more probable.
November 16, 2011 at 5:45 pm
Diana Figueroa
I get really upset when I see people feeding children the idea that evolution is some big global hoax. I have absolutely no problem with any individual believing in whatever deity or system they chose, but what kind of situations is a person going to get themselves into when they go out in the world believing dinosaurs and humans existed together, or worse, that dinosaurs and other now extinct species never existed at all because the planet is only 6,000 years old. I understand science can be classified as a belief, it is what so many people base their lives off of and it’s surrounded by things we can’t see, we can only see the effects of (how ’bout that gravity, huh?) but science is this wonderful thing that corrects and amends itself all the time and can never use words like “always” and “never”. Whereas systems, such that the Creation Museum represents, just picks and chooses what parts of the system its going to believe and practice (the Bible definitely says you shouldn’t eat shrimp or rabbit.)
November 18, 2011 at 4:00 pm
Taylor Weddle
While I cringe when I hear anyone try to deny the existence of evolution, i too have an open invitation to alternative ideas about how and why things have fallen into place as they have at this very moment as i respond to this blog. How have physical and biological changes from previous ancestors before me played specific roles in all of my capabilities today, but also how am i to explain the inner workings of my thoughts, emotions, and strong beliefs about why we are even here in the first place?
With regards to the article by Bergman, i am disturbed by his lack of considering of the stone cold evidence that science attempts to provide us with that is commonly agreed upon and is backed up with theories and general understandings. Never having been raised with any particular religion, i have always found it hard to ignore the blatant and beautiful ways in which evolution has done it’s part with all living things. Obviously, as an anthropology major, i am all about the idea that living creatures have been evolving from the moment they came into existence, but it has not prohibited my brain to still consider a “creator” that could very well be responsible for that very first moment of creation. Rather than choosing sides, i think it is important for children, and plenty of grown adults to consider all options as opposed to establishing such vibrant lines between something that no one can even say they know for a “fact” since no one alive today was there and witnessed the very moment that the universe was created.
In response to your final question, i sense the sarcasm, but i get the point. It doesnt make sense that an “intelligent designer” would intentionally place humans on this planet with flaws like impacted wisdom teeth, but evidence from evolution explains how we may have ended up with impacted wisdom teeth due to the requesting of certain biological traits amongst males and females. Moral of the story, you can’t believe everything you read and hear, but you can consider different opinions/ideas and take what you want from them to strengthen your own beliefs.
November 18, 2011 at 7:22 pm
Caitlin McGlade
Some people are so afraid that secular culture is stealing their personal integrity that they vehemently refute any idea that challenges their core regardless of scientific data. They see their world, made of the old, white, religious conservative stock, as some superior minority shrinking under the pressures of modern advances and liberals. Thus, they lump all of it together – science and those people who represent that dirty “L” word become one giant, maniacal force determined to eat their souls and indoctrinate their children or grandchildren. I’ve seen this at my father’s church, when a group of right wingers expected him to take a bus of kids to the Creation Museum and he dared to refuse. You would have thought he suggested taking them to Atheist Camp instead. “You couldn’t possibly believe in that evolution thing that all those liberals brainwash our kids with?!”
But in reality, how could anyone deny evolution? We have evidence inside our mouths. Wrangham compares our mouths to ape mouths, stating the obvious that our jaws are smaller and weaker. He hypothesizes that the the gene was not only passed on because we had less tough food to chew after cooking commenced, but because females selected for males with less aggressive-looking faces. So jaws shrunk, but the number of teeth did not. Seeing as evolution takes hundreds of thousands to millions of years to weed out a useless or harmful adaptation, it seems like most human teeth haven’t had the time to change. And, as we discussed in class, modern medicine has rendered evolutionary forces on wisdom teeth ineffective. Thanks to dentists, those of us with wisdom teeth can pass on our genes and thus pass on the trait.
If all of those people at the Creation Museum were correct, and our bodies today look exactly how they did when we were spontaneously created by God, we wouldn’t have these useless and often harmful molars in the back of our mouths. Their God isn’t supposed to make mistakes. Evolution doesn’t make mistakes either, but it also did not have an idea of the ‘final product’ either. So that’s why we’re all a little imperfect.
November 18, 2011 at 9:45 pm
Sarah Karpinski
To be 100% honest I came across a want ad for this place online, and since I want to enter the field of museum studies, I began to fill one out, unaware of what I was getting myself into. Towards the end of the application, there was a waiver I had to sign. I took a look at the waiver, sat in shock for a little bit, and then deleted my application. In order to work at the Creating Museum, you must sign a waiver saying that you believe that Jesus pretty much made evolution happen. I honestly have no problems with religion or those who practice it, but I do think that the Creation Museum is just another example of how personal beliefs can get in the way of scientific expansion. I also had a problem with the whole waiver issue…isn’t that prejudice on personal/religious beliefs? Shouldn’t that be illegal?
In regards to wisdom teeth, cooked food must have been the primary reason we no longer need them. Cooked foods are far softer and easier to digest, not to mention provide more energy than uncooked food. And just as a side note: do those who believe wisdom teeth fit still have theirs? Because mine are just starting to show up and they HURT. Not only that but they are messing up the alignment of all my other teeth, so just because they could fit in your mouth, doesn’t mean they should be there.
November 18, 2011 at 11:46 pm
Julia Healy
1) What are their own agendas? What are their ulterior motives for misleading children… What is so SCARY about evolution? The adults are scared because they were brainwashed and reality threatens to pop their bubble so now they gotta brainwash the kids so that the kids won’t grow up to scare them…. Religion is just so far from my comprehension–how anyone could be convinced of their ‘correctness,’ in the face of thousands of other religions, is baffling to me. Are these the same people who deny climate change?
TERRIFYING!!!!
2) What is Bergman’s argument? I thought he did admit we descended from apes… I wonder what he means by the recently increased problem of wisdom teeth–“more often a problem today”… Humans have not changed very much in the past centuries (and much longer)… Perhaps wisdom teeth are more often a problem because we have the option of getting our discomfort taken care of.
November 19, 2011 at 7:40 pm
Eric Osborne
I’ve come to see science denial as more than just a product of religious convictions, but also as a marker that one belongs to a particular cultural enclave. There is an unspoken subtext when one claims, “The Bible is true!” which is probably something along the lines of “MY community believes in biblical infallibility, but YOUR community is alien and threatening.” When a group collectively accepts a given dogma, they also establish who’s in and who’s out. Rational arguments only strengthen their parochialism because the more threatened they feel, the stronger they cling to the religious in-group for support.
Anyway, to touch on evolution. I read an article once that suggested sexual attraction is largely comparative rather than absolute – that is, a face that is smaller than other faces in the potential mating pool is more attractive that a prototypical small face without context. If this hypothesis is true, it might account for why runaway evolution is so much more common in sexual characteristics. Female moose aren’t looking for big antlers, they’re looking for the biggest antlers.
So what is it that having a smaller face than your peers communicates about your genes and your tendencies compared to theirs? It could indicate reduced aggression, but throughout our evolutionary history, that hasn’t necessarily been sought after. Perhaps Wrangham might suggest that smaller jaws indicated greater access to processed food. By seeking small jaws, are we searching for the best chefs?
December 18, 2012 at 9:49 pm
Paige Barker
The Creation Museum is terrifying. Growing up in a Southern Baptist family and church, I have many acquaintances who have proudly attended the museum and posted Facebook pictures posing with Adam and a T-Rex. It is beyond me as to why otherwise intelligent people can be satisfied in ignoring certain scientific facts while accepting others that better fit their own values and philosophies.
Being fairly well-versed in the Bible myself, I still don’t understand why Christians have any qualms about the age of the Earth. Nowhere in the Bible does it say how old the Earth is. I’m fairly certain that people have reached the conclusion they did by taking into account the seven days it took for God to “create” the heavens and the Earth, but so many other passages in the Bible are taken in a metaphorical context, and even more are entirely overlooked in everyday scenarios. Why, then, is this such a religious hang-up? If God does exist, why would the age of the Earth discredit his existence? And if God does exist, why is it impossible for Christians to believe that perhaps he had a hand in guiding evolution? I don’t believe in such a higher power, and I certainly don’t understand why people choose to believe in a supreme being whose very existence can be undermined by scientific fact. It seems to me it would be wiser for the Christian church to supplement their faith with these scientific truths. Evolution is a remarkable process–why not give God the credit for it?
As for the question of wisdom teeth, I once had a biology professor who believed that the transition to processed grains and white bread was a causal link for the shrinking jaw size, as the timelines for both phenomena seem to overlap.
February 6, 2015 at 2:57 pm
jonathan
I recommend you all go here http://vimeo.com/20197160
please watch at least 3 minuets in
March 5, 2015 at 3:10 pm
How Intelligent Can A Designer Be That Gave Humans Wisdom Teeth
[…] How Intelligent Can a Designer be That Gave Humans Wisdom Teeth source […]
February 21, 2021 at 1:21 am
DoflamingoGT
This article is so embarassing, the vestigial organs argument was abandoned ages ago, not only out of all the vestigial organs that miserable atheists fictionalized all of them proved to be usable but even if there were any vestigal organs this proves the opposite of evolution, its devolution/degeneration. The dental system has already proven that wisdom teeth are related to dietary changes and has nothing to do with darwinism.
But the fact that it is impossible for matter or DNA to produce any new information while there is massive loss of information with every generation already destroys darwinian evolution completely, it is really pathetic how the theory shattered when DNA was discovered and now it has been reduced to random mutations which are unable to add new information either and they only destroy existing information, literally everything in reality shows a top-down process.
It is really strange why the only people in the world who are so desperate and angry to defend an outdated 19th century theory are angry and miserable atheists, it seems obvious that it was never an intellectual problem but a moral issue, which also explains why atheists are always the angriest and most miserable people in the world while being unable to have families like normal people, it is impossible to find peace without God.
April 6, 2021 at 11:47 pm
Alan Frisch
Dietary changes have caused the evolution of human mouths to not have room for wisdom teeth, hen he the theory of evolution.