Main Page

From RationalWiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Welcome to RationalWiki!
About RationalWiki

Our purpose here at RationalWiki includes:

  1. Analyzing and refuting pseudoscience and the anti-science movement;
  2. Documenting the full range of crank ideas;
  3. Explorations of authoritarianism and fundamentalism;
  4. 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 7,964 articles for your enjoyment.

Random featured article[What is this?]
Four species of Darwin's finches

Evolution refers to change in a biological population's inherited traits from generation to generation. All species on Earth originated by the mechanism of evolution, through descent from common ancestors. Evolution occurs as changes accumulate over generations. Charles Darwin recognized evolution by natural selection, also called "descent with modification", as the fundamental process underlying all of life, whether viewed at a large scale above the level of species (macroevolution — in terms of formation of new species, changes within lineages, and extinction), or at a small scale within a species (microevolution — in terms of change in gene frequency).

In modern genetic terminology, variability of traits in a population is the expression (phenotype) of heritable traits (genes), which (at least on Earth) are stored in DNA (or sometimes in RNA or in proteins). Variability of traits ultimately originates from mutation, and new combinations of genes are continually produced via recombination as part of sexual reproduction. The result of natural selection is adaptation, like a "hand in glove" fit between organism and environment. Evolution, defined in population genetics as change in gene frequency in a population, can be influenced by other processes besides natural selection, including genetic drift (random changes, especially in small populations) and gene flow (wherein new genes come into a population from other populations). In a sense, mutation is an innovative process of expansion in which new possibilities come into existence (most of which don't work so well), and this is balanced by natural selection, a process of contraction that reduces the possibilities to those that work best in a particular environment.

Participate in RationalWiki
RedditLogo.png
Twitter logo.png
Facebook logo.png
Discord logo.png
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!
Featured Content
Need to know What Is Going On? We present regularly updated selections of the finest lunacy the Internet has to offer. Participate in the dialogue.

What is going on...

noframe
…in the world?(talk) "Actual" "news" from the "real world."
noframe
…in the Blogosphere?(talk) Quality blog posts, editorials, videos, and social media activities that relate to RationalWiki's mission.
noframe
…in the Clogosphere?(talk) Craziness from the clogged-up fringes of the Internet.
noframe
…with the Elections?(talk) News about elections from around the world.
noframe
…at RationalWiki?(*hic*) Our own main back-page.

Portals and Articles[See more content]

noframe
ScienceEmpiricismGoals of scienceFuturismGod of the gapsNASALenski affairFace masksScienceEvidence against a recent creationThe BMJ
noframe
LogicArgument from authorityNot as bad asGish GallopProofScience was wrong beforeBalance fallacyStraw manGod of the gapsNazi analogiesCircular reasoning
noframe
AtheismNew AtheismAntitheismAtheophobiaAtheist bus campaignRational Response Squad debate with Way of the MasterMisotheismRussell's TeapotSophisticated theologyAtheist professor mythAtheism
noframe
CreationismBehe: The Edge of Evolution, InterviewGlobal floodIntelligent designModern Science in the BibleFlat EarthIntelligent design and academic freedomHow come there are still monkeys?IslamicAwakening.comEyeRichard Lenski
noframe
PseudoscienceCryonicsVagina steamingRacialismPseudoscienceAnswers Research JournalPseudomathematics2012 apocalypseClimategateMen's rights movementBanana argument
noframe
ConspiracyProject Blue BeamHolocaust denialShakespeare authorshipProtochronismClimategateWar on ChristmasArmenian genocide denialHAARP2021 U.S. coup attemptAdolf Hitler
noframe
DenialismLost Cause of the SouthTobacco smokingFort Pillow MassacreClimategateDenialismCOVID-19 denialismCOVID-19 pandemicKu Klux Klan9/11Quora
noframe
ParanormalGhost HuntersSeán ManchesterElectronic voice phenomenonZombiesDeliverance ministryVampireExorcismBigfootUnidentified flying objectDream interpretation
noframe
PoliticsMobocracyNationalismInternational relationsEuropean UnionInstant Runoff VotingBashar al-AssadWingnut welfareLibertarian paradiseUndocumented immigrationAnti-intellectualism