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Monday, December 10, 2007

But we ARE monkeys.

I have often been irritated by hearing "sceptics", when arguing with creationists, say that we did not evolve from apes or monkeys, but rather merely share a a common ancestor with them - like this is somehow supposed to score a blow against creationist incredulity.

This argument is tosh, and should be avoided at all costs. First off, it's flat wrong, as Mike Keesey nicely demonstrates here. We are apes, which are monkeys. Secondly, even if the argument were true, it's pointlessly pedantic. We have evolved from something people would call and ape, which evolved from something people would call a monkey. No point getting mealy-mouthed about it.

We're clever monkeys, that's just what we are .