[benkahuna]

I feel your pain. I studied biology in high school and as a major in college and people here have serious misunderstandings about evolutionary theory.

The discussion on emotion here is a inaccurate in the context of its occurance in the brain and neurobiological evolution.

Emotion is strongly tied in with the hypothalamic output, not with complex decision-making, more recently evolved areas of the brain (neocortex). Emotions appear to serve a function as a coordinating mechanism for certain reflexive behaviors. The most recently evolved features of cognitive functioning seem to be a greater emphasis on reflex suppresion, not emotion. We have the greatest ability of all animals to consciously inhibit reflexive behavior or neurobiological action.

There are far too many misconceptions here to be worth my time dispelling. I recommend everyone here that is told they don't get evolution read a text on the topic. Be careful with the wording because small misunderstandings can easily lead you astray. When you understand the definition within the context of biology of the following terms, you'll be on your way:

natural selection
selective pressure
fitness
gene frequency
mutation
species
speciation
theory
common ancestor

Good luck. Learning the basics of genetics wouldn't hurt either. This should be 2-3 chapters worth of reading in a standard biology text. Shouldn't take more than maybe two hours. Basic genetics, maybe another hour.

Keep in mind that evolution is a theory. It cannot be proven (because we don't have the timescales necessary to do studies). However, it's almost universally accepted within the many subdisciplines of biology, even by the religious biologists (a few intelligent design types snuck in), largely because given the available evidence it's a very reasonable theory of which there is no working evidence-based alternative.