Scribd
Upload
8 views

Viruses Drive Evolution_

The document discusses the conspiracy theory that viruses are the primary driving force of evolution, claiming that they introduce new genetic information through horizontal gene transfer. It highlights the theory's origins in misinterpretation of scientific studies, its reliance on anecdotal evidence, and its lack of support compared to established scientific theories like evolution. The conclusion emphasizes the importance of critical thinking in evaluating such claims, as the conspiracy theory is largely considered pseudoscience due to its logical fallacies and misinformation.

Uploaded by

flababibo08
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
8 views

Viruses Drive Evolution_

The document discusses the conspiracy theory that viruses are the primary driving force of evolution, claiming that they introduce new genetic information through horizontal gene transfer. It highlights the theory's origins in misinterpretation of scientific studies, its reliance on anecdotal evidence, and its lack of support compared to established scientific theories like evolution. The conclusion emphasizes the importance of critical thinking in evaluating such claims, as the conspiracy theory is largely considered pseudoscience due to its logical fallacies and misinformation.

Uploaded by

flababibo08
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 2

1.

​ Introduction (80-100 words / 4-6 sentence)


• Introduce the conspiracy theory you chose.
-​ The conspiracy theory that I chose is that viruses are the major driving force of evolution.
• Briefly explain its main claim.
-​ The main claim of this conspiracy theory is that major events such as infection by viruses
or bacteria supply new genetic information to a host by horizontal gene transfer, thus
driving evolution.
• State why this topic is interesting or relevant.
-​ This topic is interesting/relevant because we have seen many instances of global virus
epidemics and linking this with evolution can give us insights into how they may affect us
as a species in the long run.
2.​ Background & Evidence (150-200 words / 7-10 sentences)
• Explain where this conspiracy theory originated.
-​ This conspiracy theory first came up from a misinterpretation of scientific studies in
evolutionary biology. Some researchers found that viruses can introduce new genetic
material to organisms through “horizontal gene transfer” and some people took this as
viruses being the main driving force of evolution instead of natural selection / random
mutation.
• Describe the main arguments or evidence used to support it.
-​ The supporters of this notion cite evidence such as endogenous retroviruses to claim
that viruses shape our genome. However, a majority of the “evidence” is based on
anecdotal blogs / journals claiming to have experienced “evolution” after having a certain
virus/illness etc.
• Identify if the sources used by supporters are reliable (scientific or anecdotal?).
-​ The sources used by the supporters aren’t as reliable as the vast amounts of
peer-reviewed scientific journals / empirical data from multiple scientific disciplines that
show how natural selection / random mutation are the key driving forces of evolution
rather than viruses due to the mere fact that most of the “evidence” on the virus evolution
side is anecdotal.
3.​ Scientific Analysis: Hypothesis vs. Theory (200 – 250 words / 10-15 sentences)
• Define hypothesis and scientific theory in your own words.
-​ A hypothesis is an idea that is proposed in order to explain a certain
phenomena/observation. On the other hand, a scientific theory is a hypothesis that has
been backed up with a good amount of concrete evidence, adding weight to the
explanation as being true.
• Compare the conspiracy theory to a real scientific theory (e.g., Germ Theory, Evolution, or Cell
Theory).
-​ Comparing the conspiracy theory to the Theory of Evolution, it is evident that while the
theory is supported by a vast amount of evidence from fields such as genetics,
paleontology, and comparative anatomy over decades of research, the conspiracy theory
on the broad notion that viruses are the main cause of evolution is yet to be supported
by consistent / testable data. Though some parts of the conspiracy theory such as the
notion that viruses inserted gene X into species Y may have more evidence than others,
as a whole, it can be seen that the conspiracy theory lacks much less evidence than the
Theory of Evolution.
• Explain whether the conspiracy theory meets the standards of a scientific hypothesis or theory.
-​ Because of the above reasons, the conspiracy theory that viruses are the main driving
force of evolution does not meet the necessary standards to be considered a scientific
hypothesis or theory.

4.​ Logical Fallacies & Misinformation (150 -180 words / 6-10 sentences)
• Identify logical fallacies (e.g., cherry-picking, confirmation bias, appeal to ignorance).
-​ The conspiracy theory at hand makes numerous logical fallacies, with the most major
one being the fact that it demonstrates confirmation bias, in which only cherry–picked
examples that support the theory are presented, often ignoring any information that
proves otherwise. Also, it involves an appeal to ignorance fallacy because they use the
logic that because we don’t know everything about evolution, the theory at hand must be
right (which isn’t logical). Furthermore, they make use of medical jargon just to make
their arguments sound more convincing without presenting actual evidence. Because of
the above reasons, the conspiracy theory is flawed due to its numerous logical fallacies
and misinformation that it is built upon.
• Explain how misinformation spreads through social media and unreliable sources.
-​ The misinformation that is linked with such conspiracy theories imposes a great threat
due to its widespread nature and appeal to emotion rather than factual evidence. It often
involves the usage of platforms such as social media / youtube to spread their
misinformation, and this affects people of all ages all around the world - with less mature
audiences / people without much scientific knowledge being prone to such
consequences.
5.​ Conclusion (50 - 70 words / 3 sentences)
• Summarize your findings.
-​ The conspiracy theory that viruses are the main driving power of evolution is often
outshadowed by the already well-established Theory of Evolution. Though some specific
parts of the theory may be plausible, most evidence still points to viruses only being a
fraction of the reason for evolution.
• State whether the conspiracy theory is based on science or pseudoscience.
-​ Though some parts of the theory have been supported through scientific methods, most
of the “evidence” contains numerous logical fallacies and therefore is closer to
pseudoscience.
• Reflect on the importance of critical thinking in evaluating claims.
-​ This shows how without critical thinking, we are prone to believing whatever we see in
the media, teaching us how important it is to always evaluate information we see before
going on to believe them.

You might also like