%0 Journal Article %T Conservation, Creation, and Evolution: revising the darwinian project Revising the Darwinian Project - Conservation, Creation, and Evolution: revising the darwinian project Revising the Darwinian Project - Open Access Pub %A Gennady Shkliarevsky %J OAP | Home | Journal of Evolutionary Science | Open Access Pub %D 2019 %X There is hardly anything more central to our universe than conservation. Many scientific fields and disciplines view the law of conservation as one of the most fundamental universal laws. The Darwinian model pivots the process of evolution on variability, reproduction, and natural selection. Conservation plays a marginal role in this model and is not really universal, as the model allows exceptions to conservation, i.e. non-conservation, to play an equally important role in evolution. This anomalous role of conservation in the Darwinian model raises questions: What is the reason for this anomaly? Is conservation really universal, as we tend to believe or is it not, as the Darwinian model suggests? This contribution proposes a new model of evolution that focuses on levels of organization, rather than of species, organisms, or populations. It argues that conservation is central to evolution. Not only does this new model restores the universal status of conservation but it also makes possible to resolve some outstanding problems and controversies that continue to plague the Darwinian model. The article tries to advance the broad Darwinian project that seeks to explain the process of evolution as a product of the spontaneous processes in nature. DOI10.14302/issn.2689-4602.jes-19-2990 The Darwinian Project The publication of the book On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life by Charles Spencer Darwin in 1859 created an overnight sensation 1. It marked the beginning of what has become one of the longest lasting intellectual projects in recent history. Its importance has not diminished as time has passed; it is as relevant today as it was over 150 years ago. There is a good reason for this longevity. Darwin¡¯s project speaks directly to one of the most fundamental issues at the heart of our civilization: who we are and what our place is in the universe 2, p 3. Humans are unique in comparison to the rest of nature. They are the only species that has consciousness and the capacity for rational thought. What is the source of these unique properties? The religious tradition that has dominated our civilization for a very long time provided an unambiguous answer. The emergence of human race is an act of divine will. God has created humans. Since God and divine creation are inaccessible to human reason, humans cannot have a rational understanding of their origin. Faith is the only way to grasp the source of humanity. Sanctified by the religious tradition, this view of the origin of humanity %U https://www.openaccesspub.org/jes/article/1174