Now that we know the chicken came first [see Now we know…dammit!], perhaps it’s time we move on to bigger and better things. We shall ask ourselves, “Which came first, man or woman?” This vexing question is very clear if one is to believe The Holy Bible. That is that God created man. He then removed a rib and created woman…simple, uncomplicated, and straightforward…if you believe the Bible. There is also the old story of God creating woman first but giving her three breasts. She spoke ‘unto’ God and said, “I only need two boobs; this third one gets in the way.” God removed the excess breast, held it for a moment and pondered, “What am I going to do with this useless boob?” The punch line, of course, is that that is how man was born…ah, well, worth a minor chuckle. There are days, however, and there are people…we’ll just let that one go.
While the earth may have been around for millions of years, the best dating of man that can be found says that thee and me have only been on this planet for the far shorter period of 195 – 200,000 years. Such a short space of time for us to do all the damage we have done, isn’t it? Somehow, in that short period, we’ve managed to pollute the oceans, rape the forests, change the climate, and developed weapons that can wipe out all living things with just the push of a button. If you ask me, God or whoever allowed us to have life really fucked up big time! Ah, well, one’s follies must be placed on the back burner for at most a brief moment
According to an ABC News article by Maggie Fox…
“Science may have caught up with the Bible, which says that Adam and Eve are the ancestors of all humans alive today.
“But in the scientists’ version, based on DNA analysis, “Adam,” the genetic ancestor of all men living today, and “Eve,”the genetic ancestor of all living women, seem to have lived tens of thousands of years apart.
“How could this be?
“Peter Underhill and colleagues at Stanford University in California have an explanation. “They had different molecular clocks,” Underhill said in a telephone interview. “Fewer men participated in reproduction than women did.”
“Tracing Women to Earlier Time
“His team, working with top geneticists across the United States, Europe, Israel and Africa, did a genetic analysis of DNA samples from the Y chromosomes of more than 1,000 men from 22 geographic areas and determined that their most recent common ancestor was a man who lived in Africa around 59,000 years ago.
“Only men have Y chromosomes and researchers can look at gradual genetic mutations in them to “count” generations.
“Other studies have used mitochondrial DNA, which women seem to pass down virtually unchanged from mother to daughter, to show that the genetic “Eve” lived 143,000 years ago.
“The latest study, published in the November issue of the journal Nature Genetics, reconciles the two findings, and in the process the researchers came up with new tool for looking at how people are different from one another genetically.
“They also added a great deal of detail to the family tree of all men living today, information that can be used by historians, anthropologists and other researchers. “We can look at the tree and see, ‘Oh, this section of the tree is where Asians go.’ We can say, ‘Oh, here is a Japanese Y chromosome and this is a Chinese Y chromosome,’” Underhill said.”
Does this mean that science and theology are once again at war? No, I don’t believe so. I would much prefer to say that they work in consort. Science has one set of beliefs and theologians something that while it might be called opposing, is still within the realm of possibility within the faithful. If you would like to pursue this subject further, I cordially invite you to read,”What is Man” by Mark Twain, or any of the 9.9 billion references that Google provides.
Looking at it from a very personal view, I would have to say that man is an extremely complex piece of equipment that is wired differently in each and every version. As a species, we have the capacity for both good and evil; our wiring determines the direction in which we proceed. However, I agree with Twain that outside influences can help in that determination and our environmental and socioeconomic positions as well as the groups with which we come in contact will, in large measure what we are. There are times when we as a species are content to flow with what we learn, and yet, there are others who are discontented and seek out a different flow. In other words, anyone who says that they fully understand the complexities of man is someone of whom to be very, very wary.
As for women, I have been on this earth long enough to understand that any man who says he has women all figured out really does belong in protective custody, preferably in a room with padded walls, floor and ceiling. Understand women…preposterous!
Dick Bishop
Dick Bishop's Blog 