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About RationalWiki Our purpose here at RationalWiki includes: Analyzing and refuting pseudoscience and the anti-science movement; Documenting the full range of crank ideas; Explorations of authoritarianism and fundamentalism; Analysis and criticism of how these subjects are handled in the media. We welcome contributors, and encourage those who disagree with us to register and engage in constructive dialogue. We have 7,975 articles for your enjoyment. Random featured article[What is this?] Common descent The circular Tree of Life. Moving clockwise: 12:00 to 9:00 is bacteria, 9:00 to 10:30 is archaea, 10:30 to 12:00 is all else. Common descent is the scientific theory that all living organisms on Earth descended from a common ancestor. Biologists have evidence that all life developed from a common ancestor that lived just under 4 billion years ago, a concept accepted by virtually all scientists working in the field. The structures and functions of all living organisms are encoded in the same basic nucleic molecules, DNA and RNA. Similarities in amino acid sequences between various organisms further suggest common descent, and the fossil record also shows cases in which one plant or animal type evolved into different types over geological timespans. Creationists reject common descent as it implies an evolutionary model. Young Earth creationists reject it outright, being Biblical literalists, insisting instead that life was somehow created in just a few days, less than ten thousand years ago. Intelligent design proponents usually just claim that "we don't know what happened", though they may accept certain aspects of common descent as long as they are still allowed to claim that the designer messed with the genes and mutations along the way. Cdesign proponentsists generally believe in a hodgepodge of these positions. Participate in RationalWiki RationalWiki portal: See our guide for newcomers! A brief history of RationalWiki... Share how you found RationalWiki! For general chatter that doesn't fit anywhere else, the Saloon Bar is the place to go. Essay portal: Essays written by individual users covering a wide range of subjects. Comment on the talk pages or write your own. Debate portal: Informal debates covering political and philosophical issues. Participate freely or start your own. Writing articles: Read up on what a RationalWiki page is and our community standards. Take a look at the help pages if you're having trouble. We also keep a list of useful links. Our to do list is where we pile up ideas for articles. See if anything piques your interest!

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