Questions about the origin of man continue to be topical, and the topic of whether humans are related to apes excites many. Unfortunately, myths about this continue to exist and spread among humans. In 2017, Tim Allen published a tweet in which he wrote, “If we evolved from apes, why are there still apes.” (Allen, 2017). The number of citations has almost reached 13,000, reflecting how unprepared people are for basic ideas about evolution.
The statement by Tim Allen, a comedian by profession, seemed to make sense to many people because they do not understand science or do not want to see the obvious. Allen’s statement demonstrates that, on average, people have no idea how biological things are related to each other. Humans share common ancestors with primates because they belong to that genus; however, this does not mean that an ape is one or two years away from evolving into a human (Smith & Sullivan, 2006). Moreover, the nucleotide bonds have long since been broken, and there are no conditions for evolution. Humans do not see intermediate species because evolutionary processes are slowed down. Consequently, people like Tim Allen demonstrate their incompetence by spreading false misconceptions. This example is good because it is brief enough to show at once that the connections of the current average person with biological terms, much less evolution, are disjointed.
Thus, evolutionary biology is no longer the focus, so people have misconceptions about their origins. Tim Allen’s tweet demonstrates that logical connections about biology are unavailable to the average person. Allen’s statement is also an excellent example of how humans have no idea how they are connected to evolution. It demonstrates that people are willing to use popular myths and interpret them frivolously because they do not understand the nature of biology.
References
Allen, T. [@ofctimallen]. (2017). If we evolved from apes, why are there still apes? [Tweet]. Twitter.
Smith, C. M., & Sullivan, C. (2006). Myth six: People come from monkeys, in The top 10 myths about Evolution. Prometheus (pp. 87-105).