1) Write a paragraph in your own words explaining why evolution is critical to understanding reality, the real world, including business.  A paragraph is at least 3 sentences, five is better.  Please follow the style guide in the syllabus, summarized below.  

2) After posting your paragraph you will be able to see what other students have written (but not until you post).  Select at least one other student's paragraph and review it critically, do a critique.  After reading all the student responses, pick one you think needs improvement, and click on REPLY: then address them by name, do not say what they did well, that is merely flattery and will earn no points, evaluate their paragraph for sound, sustainable arguments, teach them how to improve, give them examples, do not be shy, do not be rude (this is called "constructive criticism").  This peer review or critique will be graded separately according to the rubric attached.  PLEASE READ THE RUBRIC BEFORE DOING A CRITIQUE.

The first paragraph will be graded in two ways:

1. professional style: avoid first person, avoid second person, avoid passive voice, no contractions, no cliche, no jingoism, no metaphor, no simile, no fragments or incomplete thoughts,
2. sustainable arguments: this means your statements should be based on empirical evidence, facts, something that can be tested.  Arguments based on authority often sound impressive, but they do not stand up to scrutiny many times.  For that reason in science the ultimate authority is truth, "what are the facts?"  Evolution is not true because a great scholar named Darwin said it was.  Evolution is true because we can test it, and we do test it all the time.  Modern pathology of disease is based on our modern knowledge of bacteria and viruses and how they evolve.  On the microscopic level we can watch evolution happen, right under the microscope.  It takes much longer for larger organisms, but it still happens.  We do not evolve to meet a situation.  We evolve and diversity of species is the result.  When a survival test occurs, hopefully some of the species ALREADY possess some trait allowing them to survive, the rest do not.  The same occurs in economics.  By the way, modern economics is evolving academically under the title of BIONOMICS.  It was always a silly idea think that only humans have resources to manage, methods of exchange, systems of value or priority.  Bionomics is built on scientific research into the economics of all living things: and how they evolve.