The Chimp Man Myth
Truly Human
We stand up tall on two legs with two arms on our sides unlike any other animal on earth. Humans are unique in so many ways when it comes to anatomy. Evolutionary biology points to the chimpanzee as our nearest relative. Yet, for a chimp to be bipedal – walking on two legs like a human – every bone of its body would have to change to walk upright. There must be significant changes in order to form a new complete branch of a species identified as Homo sapiens for evolution to work.
The logical conclusion: humans are the most unique creatures that live on earth. Another unique attribute is found in the human hand with an opposing thumb longer than any primate’s. These hands have the capacity not only to grasp and manipulate objects with many different shapes, but do so with high efficiency that can work delicately on fine-tuned tasks. Can a primate thread a needle? With 27 small bones (one-quarter of all the bones in the human body) and 35 muscles working together, the human hand has strength and flexibility, numerous tendons, and complex nerve networks that support the superior qualities in the human hand surpassing any creature on earth. Evolutionists declare the making of stone tools as a solely human accomplishment because it requires traits only found in human hands.
Chimps have long curved fingers, (no opposable thumb) with three bones instead of two in humans, and lack the complex anatomy in the human hand. From their hand anatomy and long arms, chimps are designed for climbing trees. They make nests and prefer the arboreal lifestyle which is very different from human beings bound to the earth who are divinely appointed to be in dominion over its creatures as stated in Genesis 1:26 and 28. The uniqueness of the human species and affirmation of God’s Word is demonstrated in what he has accomplished during their existence on earth.
As we look up in the heavens, we see how Newton’s gravity was defeated by human flight, becoming an industry that provides travel all over the earth for millions of tourists annually. We did not stop there but moved into space by providing enough boost to provide an escape velocity of 22,020 miles per hour to overcome the earth’s gravitational pull and probe into depths of space. Humans would now not only reach the moon but would walk on it 238,900 miles away. They would live on a space station for months and investigate our earth and other planets, particularly our neighbors.
The space around our globe is being filled with satellites orbiting the earth, bringing vital scientific data to its inhabitants and providing radio pathways for our communication systems. The cell phones we use, the TVs found in our homes, our computers, and many other devices all collectively demonstrate a high level of technology that was never expected 50 years ago. Humankind has displayed a superior knowledge system, problem-solving ability, and creativity in technology that far surpasses any other creature on earth. The gap between humans and other living forms like primates is so large that it surpasses all understanding.
Humans are naturally curious creatures. We do not only wonder about the things that we see but can dive into the invisible world even beyond the limits of the microscope. There is a persistent urge to see what kind of particles and energy is keeping the universe together. In the last 100 plus years, man has found the tiniest particle measuring 0.0000000001 meter in diameter identified as an atom. Scientists had the idea that the atom existed during the 1800’s, but in the early 1900’s it was discovered, giving us the atomic theory that would change the world forever.
Today we have found 17 subatomic particles that make up the atom. These particles are so tiny that they are where matter and energy meet. Along with the atom, we discovered how to release nuclear energy that had enormous power, like our sun’s radiation and every star in the universe. Along with Einstein’s equation, we found that a very tiny amount of matter can be transferred to a tremendous amount of energy that, when made into a weapon it could decimate a significant number of its inhabitants of the earth. The last century introduced the atomic age, revealing that the human mind could produce an advanced culture filled with all the trimmings of technology and thus found the way to be the most powerful creature on earth. When we reflect on the primate’s world with their limited intelligence and the lack of understanding of the depth of things surrounding them, we see how ridiculous it is that evolutionists say that they are in any way related to us.
THE HUMAN BRAIN: EVOLUTION’S BIGGEST PROBLEM
Humans have a fantastic testimony recorded in the history books of time because they can use their complex brains. There is a marked difference between a chimpanzee and a human skull that house their respective brains. The ape skull from the side view is sloped at an angle with a prominent jaw and a small forehead, while the human skull is more vertical. Most primate and human skull fossils are incomplete and fragmented and there has been much variation in shape and size. What is taught in most of our schools and neatly illustrated in textbooks is that as the skull size increases, so does intelligence, and this is so far from the truth. There is no correlation between brain size and intelligence. Although the elephant has a bigger brain than humans, when it comes to intelligence in discovering and creating technology, solving problems, and using language, humans far exceed elephants.
While these charts show a smooth transition from a primate skull to a human, the fossil record is disjointed, incomplete, and much debated in the evolutionary community. Ian Tattersall, the curator of the Spitzer Hall of Human Origins of the American Museum of Natural History, expresses the ignorance science has when we attempt to make connections to brain function and the fossil record as he states:
“Exactly when our amazing capability was initially acquired is something we cannot read directly from the fossil record: the paleoneurologists, those specialists who specialize in the form of fossil brains as determined from the impressions they leave inside the cranial vault, cannot even agree in principle if there is any functional significance to the minor external shape differences we see between modern humans and Neanderthal brains.” 1
Ian Tattersall gives a hint of the confusion that exists in the evolutionary community. Evolutionists at one time believed that Neanderthals were the missing link depicted as a hairy monkey standing erect in the early 1900’s. He appeared in textbooks and national museums for many years as the bent-over, hairy, club-wielding primitive. More recently, as they discovered more fossils and reevaluated others, paleontologists realized that Neanderthals were considered humanlike. Genetic studies suggest that homo sapiens and Neanderthals interbred, as revealed when in 2010 the DNA of Neanderthals was first announced. Today many evolutionists believe that Neanderthals were intelligent as displayed in the artifacts they discovered, including the burial of their dead, and can easily be classified as a variation of humankind. Although there are certain Neanderthal traits that suggest they were more robust in skeletal structure they would still fit into the human type because today there are significant variations in these human traits. If they lived next door, you probably wouldn’t notice a difference from any other human family.
Evolutionists use the skull as a fundamental trait to identify homo sapiens because it houses the brain. Isaac Asimov, a renowned international writer and Professor at Boston University, states, “In man is a three-pound brain, which as far as we know, is the most complex and orderly arrangement of matter in the universe.” 2
A human brain is a busy place highly packed with neurons (nerve cells) in small spaces that make it very dense and heavy. It is estimated that the 100 billion neurons that make up the human brain are much denser than any other animal on earth. These neuron cells are complex and have branches that extend outward to make small electrical connections sending tiny impulses at amazing speeds of 225 miles per hour, carving pathways in our brain. No wonder our hand responds so quickly when we touch a hot object. Once these pathways are established, they give us our memory, and from early childhood, they provide us with the ability to walk, eat, and live. It is estimated that one neuron can connect to 10,000 other neurons, making 100 trillion connections. If you were to straighten all these neurological connections into one line, it would stretch 100,000 miles. It is no wonder the human brain far exceeds the cognitive abilities of any animal on earth, including the chimpanzee. The brain requires an abnormal amount of energy compared to other animals because of all the nerve cells that need oxygen to survive. It is well known that the human brain consumes 20% of its body budget of energy despite the fact that it makes up only 2% of its body weight. The human brain has an overdeveloped cerebral cortex; if compared to a chimpanzee’s brain by weight to humans, the chimp would have to increase 4 x to reach the average human brain size. That represents a large gap to get over time in which the fossil record falls short of the even transition despite the internal disagreements as to where to place the skulls amongst paleontologists.
Although human brain size is larger than primates’, it should never be a component of intelligence. The elephant’s brain is an average of 5,000 grams (11 pounds), and a whale is even more enormous at 6,600 grams (14.5 pounds). This does not correlate to cognitive ability as demonstrated by a human brain size of 1,500 grams (3.3 pounds). Human brains also vary from 900 to 2,000 grams, emphasizing that intelligence is not linked to size but to a complex network of connecting neurons.
The big difference in a human brain is in the shape and function that helps the nerve network efficiently connect. It comes down to the large human cerebral cortex, which is defined as the brain’s outermost layer that contains many folds to increase the surface area. These numerous folds provide an adequate oxygen supply with a thickness varying from 1.5 to 5 centimeters. It offers multiple functions, like problem-solving, planning, organizing, personality, motor, and language processing. Primates lack many of these advanced functions because they lack specialized areas, including a speech center.
Another example is the human brain’s frontal lobe, which occupies 50% of our cerebral cortex, while a chimpanzee’s occupies only 17%. Neurological studies believe that this section of the brain is responsible for complicated human behaviors, which are demonstrated in the many varied human personality types. It was thought at one time, especially in the late 1940’s, that the surgical removal of part of the human frontal lobe would negate inappropriate behavior. After thousands of these surgeries (called lobotomies) were performed, it was considered inhumane and had more negative results than positive. As one of the most prominent neurosurgeons in Britain concluded, “The fact they were totally ruined as social human beings probably didn’t count.” 3
WALKING ON TWO LEGS: EVOLUTION IS STILL CRAWLING
The evolutionary tree states that the inception of primates in the fossil record is unknown and how they came to be is still under debate. According to most of the evolutionary biology textbooks, humans are part of the great apes, which include gorillas, orangutans, bonobos, and chimpanzees. Today most evolutionists still believe that humans are closely connected by their DNA even though there are overwhelming scientific problems that were conveniently overlooked to produce a value of 98-99%. According to Jeffrey Tomkins, a biochemist from the Institute of Creation Research, after evaluating the chimpanzee and human genome, concluded that they cherry-picked the genetic data when observing the gap sequences. He made this observation, “Furthermore when data are provided in research papers that allow the determination of DNA sequence gaps in alignments, actual overall identities are 70 to 87 percent.” 4
Tomkins reports that after examining 5,500 chimp sequences, there was only an 85% difference. He also found that 30% of the chimp DNA did not align with the human genome, casting doubt on the original study. The 98-99% difference promoted by evolutionists between chimp and man has received so much attention and is still misused today. Tomkins used the correct term in the title of his article as the DNA Myth. Evolutionary bias is everywhere and is illogical, especially when it comes to ape to human evolution. As one observes a human as part of the great ape branch of the evolutionary tree, you can’t help but observe that the human is misplaced not only in intelligence but also in structure. Primates are quadrupeds while humans are bipedal. Primates are built to climb (except for the gorilla) with their long arms and walk-on knuckles. Their legs are at an angle as the femur attaches to the tibia, causing their legs to bend inward. This leg placement is called a carrying angle. To gain stability, it needs all four limbs to be down on the ground. If they walk on two legs, it is awkward and not very stable, so they do it for short spurts. The spine of an ape is straight, with a narrow pelvis for climbing, and joins the skull at the occipital hole towards the back of the head, which forces the body downward to be on all four appendages.
In human anatomy, there is a drastic difference. The occipital hole in the skull is in the center, lined up with the spine, which has four sharp curves that form an “S” shaped column to provide upward balance and cushion for human walking. Standing on two legs depends on a pelvis to support weight and, contrary to the primate, is wide and short to support the muscles for walking. Interestingly, the human arms and trunk are short compared to a primate with more prominent leg bones designed for walking. There is no carriage angle in humans while the large femur slants inward toward the knee, which moves directly downward, providing balance. When the arm-leg ratio is compared to a chimpanzee, humans lose at .8 to 1.36. The upper body of a human being smaller has a lower center of gravity which aids in balancing the body for walking on two legs. Another critical feature of bipedalism is the human foot. The feet and hands of the chimpanzee are the same, while in humans, we observe a significant difference. As mentioned above, the hand gives humans a tremendous advantage for advancing their culture, while the foot is designed for ambulatory use in standing, walking, and even running. The human foot has an arch due to its long heel bone for absorbing shock as the foot hits the ground while primates are entirely flat-footed. Compared to the chimpanzee, we note the human foot is small with tiny toes and a lone big toe all lined up in one direction. The chimp’s large toe, like its hand, is separated and pointing in a different direction.
CONCLUSION
There are massive changes that must be made over time in order for a primate to evolve into a human. The evidence is incomplete and unconvincing, which evolutionists purposely fail to see because of their strong faith in nature rather than their Creator and Redeemer. We have witnessed over the years their futile attempt with a pathetically incomplete fossil record. To proclaim that man evolved from primates demands a plethora of fossils and a commendable fossil record that is still missing. Those who believe the Word of God know why the evidence is missing. What we are experiencing is that God, with His infinite wisdom, designed man in His image as it says in Genesis 1:27, “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”
References
1. Tattersall, Ian. 2012, Masters of the Planet: The Search for Our Origins, New York, NY: St. Martin’s Press
2. Asimov, Isaac.1970, In the game of energy and thermodynamics, you can’t even break even. Smithsonian Institute Journal, June, p.10
3. Levinson, Hugh. 2011, The strange and curious history of lobotomy, BBC News. November 8. https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-15629160
4. Tomkins, Jeffrey, 2011, Evaluating the Human-Chimp DNA Myth – New Research Data, September 30 https://www.icr.org/article/evaluating-human-chimpdna-myth-new
