De-evolution

{{crenav}}
: ''Not to be confused with {{wpl|devolution|political devolution,}} which is not necessarily the same. Nor with those [[Fun:Devo|odd chaps from Ohio]].''
{{cquote|Been around the world and found<br />That only stupid people are breeding<br />The cretins cloning and feeding<br />And I don't even own a TV|||{{wpl|Harvey Danger}}, "[https://youtu.be/wYsMjEeEg4g|Flagpole Sitta]"}}

'''De-evolution''' or '''devolution''' is an idea that a species is actually evolving "backward". [[Biblical literalism|Biblical literalists]] often favor the concept: they like to view [[Adam]] and [[Eve]] as perfect beings who were [[creation|created]], and hold that the subsequent human race has "devolved" from that perfection.<ref>Will Hoyt, [http://www.learnthebible.org/adaption-example-of-evolution-or-not.html Adaption - Example of Evolution or Not?] learnthebible.org.</ref> De-evolution is sometimes formalized by the assertion that all (or most) [[mutation]]s ''destroy'' information, rather than 
create
 develop information. 

Some [[evangelist]]s say that the perceived de-evolution of the world is [[proof]] that the [[end times]] are near.<ref>[https://trinitystudiospicsblog.com/tag/de-evolution/ The End Is Near!!] trinitystudiospicsblog.com, 3 May 2020.</ref> [[List of predictions of the end of the world|Because of course they do.]]

[[RationalWiki|Cynics]] and misanthropes also use the term "devolution" to refer to the perceived increasing dominance of the stupid.

==Applicability to evolution==
The term "devolution" is a misnomer in terms of [[biological]] [[evolution]] and [[natural selection]], as they do not have a definitive path in any direction, so there can't really be backward evolution. Although biological evolution is guided by natural selection, the selection process is not goal-oriented, but rather favors adaptation to the current local environment, which itself is subject to change and evolution. In this sense, evolution can be an [[unguided evolution|unguided]] process. As a result, the concept is usually a [[emotional appeal|plea to emotional attachment]] that [[humans]] may have for their own perceived superiority. In the cold, reasoned light of [[science]], however, such a notion doesn't hold, and unguided evolution — neither forward nor backward — is the dominant theory.

If changes to a [[species]] were specifically controlled in a way that each change was reversed in order, it might be accurate to call the act "devolution",{{efn|But to be pedantic about it, the established word for the opposite of "evolution" in other uses of the word, such as in [[mathematics]], is "'''in'''volution". This makes sense in the light of etymology, for the [[Latin]] preposition ''e'' means "out (of/from)", and ''in'' means "in(to)", while ''de'' means "down from".}} but this would require a perfect history of the organism's [[genetic]] makeup by each generation and a flawless means to control the changes. This would make for excellent research into genetics… were that knowledge not already necessary for such exotic manipulations. Even so, this is no more "un-evolving" something than flattening Play-Doh into a pancake and rolling it back into a ball is "un-pancaking".

The concept of devolution is similar to that of 'dysgenics', in which [[eugenicist]]s bemoaned [[Social degeneration|the decline of humanity]] as the rabble were supposedly outbreeding the better stock (read: [[Social_degeneration#Scientific_Racism_and_Eugenics|social degeneration theory]]).

Some [[Crank|silly]] [[John D. Morris|creationists]] contend that de-evolution has occurred and that everyone else is interpreting observational data wrong.<ref>John Morris, in Daniel Biddle, [https://genesisapologetics.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/592/2018/09/DEBUNKING-EVOLUTION-WHAT-EVERY-CHRISTIAN-STUDENT-SHOULD-KNOW-updated-9-28-18.pdf Debunking Evolution: What Every Christian Student Should Know], p. 186.</ref>

==Are we not men?==
{{#ev:youtube|hRguZr0xCOc|300|right}} 
{{cquote|
God made man<br />
but he used the monkey to do it<br />
Apes in the plan<br />
we're all here to prove it<br />
I can walk like an ape<br />
talk like an ape<br />
do what a monkey do<br />
God made man<br />
but a monkey supplied the glue.
|||Devo, "Jocko Homo"{{efn|This verse is a response and reference to the 1926 anti-evolution song by Uncle Dave Macon called "The Bible's True."<ref>[http://www.hangoutstorage.com/banjohangout.org/storage/attachments/archived/files/the-bible-is-true----384992632011.pdf The Bible Is True] by Uncle Dave Macon (circa 1925).</ref>
{{cquote|God made the world<BR>
And ev'rything in it<BR>
He made man perfect<BR>
And the monkey wasn't in it!<BR>
What you say, what you say<BR>
It’s bound to be that way!}}
}}}}

[[File:Forecastle Devo.jpg|thumb|right|300px|We are Devo!]]
Some maintain the term was popularized by the band [[Devo]] (the name itself is a reference to de-evolution) in their song {{wpl|Jocko Homo||.}} The band's singer Mark Mothersbaugh repeatedly asks "Are we not men?", to which the other band members reply "We are Devo!"

The term "jocko homo" originated in an [[creationism|anti-evolutionist]] [[tract]] from the 1920s by Bertram Henry Shadduck,<ref>[https://bhshadduck.tripod.com/ Bertram Henry Shadduck biography], bhshadduck.tripod.com.</ref> entitled ''Jocko-Homo Heavenbound'', which refers to a "man ape" or "ape man" called Jocko homo.<ref>B. H. Shadduck, [https://bhshadduck.tripod.com/index/id10.html Jocko Homo Heavenbound], bhshadduck.tripod.com.</ref>
{{clear}}

==Purported examples==
[[File:Mexican Tetra as Blind Cave Fish.jpg|thumb|right|165px|{{wpl|Mexican tetra}} (''Astyanax mexicanus''), the blind cave form: evolved for the cave but not for the aquarium]]
Consider a cave-living [[fish]] that loses its power of sight because it is not needed in dark conditions where sight is useless anyway. Believers in de-evolution would cite this as a prime example of an ability that is lost, possibly forever, and devolution from the perfection of creation in action. However, considering the reality of evolution guided only by external environmental pressures, this interpretation makes little sense and the adaptation of sight being lost can be thought of more generally: looking at what survival ''advantages'' such an adaptation may allow. Sight is no longer necessary to this example fish, so the evolutionary process has no reason to preserve it — fish born without sight would be at no specific disadvantage compared to their sighted counterparts. In fact, the blind fish now has a ''better'' chance of survival and reproduction compared to its sighted colleagues, which waste energy on a very unnecessary function (in this environment) that exposes them to potential infection and injury. The blind fish has become better adapted to its ''present'' surroundings — it has not "devolved". 

Similarly, those citing humanity's alleged loss of agility, sight, or overall fitness when compared to ancestors don't take into account the increased mental capabilities (shown by inflation of [[IQ]] over time, for instance) as time goes on, which allows for increases in [[technology]] and [[medicine]] that prolong life and survivability better than standard physical capabilities would. In fact, there is a [[bias]] held by many people that humanity will continue to "evolve" into a more intelligent being — but there is no biological reason for this to be so. If less intelligent people were favored by natural (or sexual) selection, or if they were more able to reproduce for some reason, then humanity would move in the direction of having less intelligence.

==Cretinism{{sic}}==
In [[creationist]] circles, "de-evolution" is the strange concept that all "[[Microevolution and macroevolution|microevolution]]" is the corruption of the perfect creation, after the [[Original sin|sin]] of [[Adam]] brought about [[The Fall|mankind's fall from grace]]. Presumably, "perfect" Adam and Eve weren't lactose-tolerant, and those populations who are now free of wisdom teeth or can breathe easily at higher altitudes are poor corrupted creatures.<ref>https://www.businessinsider.com/recent-human-evolution-traits-2016-8#7-shrinking-brains-7</ref>

==De-evolution in science fiction==
The concept of de-evolution occasionally shows up in [[science fiction]]. It usually happens when the heroes (usually humans) land on a distant [[planet]]. The planet is filled with sophisticated technology (often in the form of ruins), but the species who built this technology no longer has the intelligence to replicate it. The conclusion that the heroes reach is that the species which built the technology has "devolved" into a more stupid form.{{efn|This is then used as a springboard to talk about the human race through the miracle of analogies.}}

This shows a strongly anthropocentrically biased view of evolution. While it is possible that an intelligent species could, over the course of evolutionary time, become less intelligent, it would presumably be because (like the sightless cave fish) the energy they spent on building brains could be better spent on, say, improving their jaw strength, or resisting nuclear radiation, or what have you. This is not "de-evolution" — it is "evolution in a direction away from human ideals". (Then again, environment changes may make the replication of "sophisticated technology" redundant or impossible — modern ''Homo sapiens'' youngsters don't learn as much as Cro-Magnons might have about about flint knapping, and some descendants of the Lapita people migrated to places scarce in the source materials for manufacturing their pottery.<ref>[https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Disappearance_of_Useful_Arts "The Disappearance of Useful Arts" by W. H. R. Rivers (1912).]</ref>)

Sometimes, a show takes so-called devolution to a more literal (and stupid) level, such as in one episode of [[Star Trek|''Star Trek: The Next Generation'']] in which the crew experiences "devolution" that literally turns them into successively more primitive creatures in their species' evolutionary past (into more primitive primates, in Picard's case). The 2006 film ''[[Idiocracy]]'', a [[satire]] of how "lower-class" culture is venerated in society, has also been interpreted by ''way'' too many people as a cautionary tale of why [[Eugenics|we shouldn't let certain people breed]]. In the '80s cartoon {{wpl|Dinosaucers|''Dinosaucers''|,}} protagonized by intelligent [[dinosaur]]s, the good guys had the ability of devolving at will into their dinosaur ancestors, albeit conserving their intelligence — though when used once against the bad guys, they ended having the intellect of actual dinosaurs instead.

Cyril M. Kornbluth's 1951 short story {{wpl|The Marching Morons|''The Marching Morons''|,}}<ref>Kornbluth, C. M. ''[https://www.gutenberg.org/files/51233/51233-h/51233-h.htm The Marching Morons]''.</ref> about a future society divided between an intelligent elite and a massive number of idiots, was more explicit about the metaphor, albeit with the twist that the too-clever-by-half con-artist from the present day, who we're initially led to believe has a brilliant solution to the problems of [[overpopulation]] and human stupidity, is ultimately depicted as being just as stupid as the future morons.

The Morlocks and the Eloi in H.G. Wells' ''{{wpl|The Time Machine}}'' can be interpreted as examples of devolution.

==Vedic creationism==
{{main|Hindu creationism}}
"Devolution" is a term used by [[Michael Cremo]] and his [[ISKCON|Krishna buddies]] to describe their views on the origins on the human species. According to him/them, humanity has "devolved" from pure [[spirit]].<ref>Science & Religion: A New Introduction, Alister E. McGrath, 2009, p. 140</ref>

==Occultism== 
Helena P. Blavatsky, the founder of [[Theosophy]], rejected the idea that humanity had evolved from [[ape]]s, claiming the opposite was the case — apes had devolved from early humans due to "putting themselves on the animal level".<ref>Blavatsky, HP (1888), ''The First Message to WQ Judge, General Secretary of the American Section of the Theosophical Society'', pp. 185–187.</ref> Later figures such as [[Julius Evola]] followed her view, calling it "involution".<ref>''The Metaphysics of Sex'', 1983, pp. 9-10.</ref>

==See also==
*[[Darwinism]]
*[[Degenerate]]
*[[Evolutionism]]
*''[[Idiocracy]]''
*[[Types of evolution]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

{{Evonav}}{{keyword|evokey= De-evolution}}
{{crebox}}

[[Category:Creationist claims]]
[[Category:Evolution]]
[[Category:Misnomers]]

Categories: Creationist claims, Evolution, Misnomers