Why are very smart people too stupid to believe in evolution?????

Question

I mean come on. If a horse and a donkey make a sterile mule, obviously, what used to be 1 species has recently split into 2 species.

Answer 1

We are not stupid. Besides, if a horse and a donkey make a sterile mule, and you think a sterile mule use to be a species, how would it reproduce if it's sterile? Yeah explain that one. Anyways, God made the earth, you can't get organisms that come from nothing, you can't create life if there is nothing to create life from. So thus God created everything because he is the only one that can do that.

Answer 2

Nobody has to believe in evolution. It is not a belief system.


Evolution of species from common ancestors is an observable fact. Selection is a breeding method about 6 times as old as christianity (that's how dogs were bred from those wolves who could interact best with human hunters).

The causes of selection are less provable. This is where the non-scientist impression of the term "theory" gets a bit closer to the mark. (Relativity and Newtonian Gravity are theories, too...) Still, a model where the natural laws are applied randomly will result in "accidental" creation of organic molecules. Leaving this planetwide experiment going on for a couple of millennia may result in simple organisms.

Now, aren't the natural laws nifty to allow for life to happen? One may well believe that these laws have a will behind them. If so, then letting evolution take care of the details shows real omniscience and omnipotence. The theory of evolution may be seen as an aspect of Mark 1: "In the Beginning, there was the Word." Greek "Logos" is word, but can also be law. While evolution isn't explicitely mentioned in the bible, neither are combustion or steam engines, or quantum physics.

I strongly suggest, though, that literalist christians go all the way and join the Amish people, leaving behind the evil trappings of information technology and exchanging that for a god-pleasing rural life. If those communities don't teach evolution at school, it fits the general pattern of that life.

Answer 3

It isn't about 'belief' it is about evidence. So why do smart people deny the evidence of evolution?

I'm sure there are a number of factors.

1. Personal comfort. Evolution challenges a belief system they are not ready to adjust.
2. Smart people are very good at finding reasons to justify beliefs they arrived at for non-smart reasons. (Michael Shermer suggested this)
3. They do not understand what evolution actually is. When not using the 'God of the Gaps' fallacy, or arguments from personal incredulity, the usual 'attacks' on evolution are straw man arguments. The straw man is often "How can we have evolved from monkeys if they are still around?" Well, the theory of evolution has never said we evolved from monkeys. It says that we and monkeys had a common ancestor.

There are a number of logical fallacies involved with evolution deniers.

Donkey+Horse example isn't an example of creating a new species, but merely indicates that a donkey and horse are different species. Evolution deniers will jump on that and knock it down and claim victory over evolution...heh. New straw man for them, I guess.

I suggest you read "Climbing Mount Improbable" by Richard Dawkins to get a better handle on what evolution is and isn't.

Answer 4

It is one thing to start with a donkey and a horse and get a mule, it is another thing altogether to start with goo and make an eye, or start with an air bladder and get a lung, or have a flagellum turn into a muscular tail. It is ignorant to look at the transformations as simple and logical when they actually represent very complex coding changes at a molecular level, coding for entirely new things that have no precedent too develop from and no reason to evolve in stages. If any of hundreds of genes fail the eye is as useless as a tumor, why would any creature evolve carrying around a tumor for millions of years until it turned into an eye? The intelligent money is now on a organizing principle behind evolution that is more powerful then Natural Selection. My money is on a quantum information exchange between various states in a many-worlds quantum framework.

Answer 5

It is not that very smart people are too stupid to believe in evolution, it is that very smart people have enough facts to make an informed decision about what they choose to believe about an unobservable scientific question. Darwin was a very smart man and even he refuted his belief in evolution after further consideration. Evolution is, actually, a hypothesis - not a theory. A theory has to be able to be proven. Since science is based on observation, evolution cannot be proven since it cannot be observed. If the hypothesis of evolution could be proven, there would not be ancient skeletons of animals that are in existance today, nor would animals which have supposedly evolved into other species be in existance today (i.e. monkeys).
I am sure that there are many hypotheses about the origin of man that have not been published and I am certain that I am not personally aware of every hypothesis that is printed, but the most obvious contradictory hypothesis is creation. Although I do believe in a Divine creator, I do admit that this is also a hypothesis because creation cannot be observed and therefore cannot be scientifically proven. Many before me have believed in salvation and have chosen to discount creation and accept evolution as fact, but I choose to accept creation as fact because I believe that our world is a world of order, not chaos.
The bottom line is that any acceptance of a hypothesis about the origin of man as fact is based on faith in something. Whether that something is God, an idea, or an ideal, "faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." (Heb. 11:1)
It is not the smartness of a person that determines their beliefs.

Answer 6

Why do you feel people are stupid who choose to believe differently from you - there is evidence to support Christian beliefs just as there is evidence to support certain elements of evolution - no one person has all the answers and even if evolution was a proven theory that does not negate the existance of God nor does it render the Bible useless - the Bible says "God Created - " it does not go into detail as to how - so evolution may be part of the creation process - my point is no one knows for absolute certain how this earth and life as we know it came to be and the only thing "stupid" in the entire debate is folks getting upset over others choosing to believe differently based on how they view the evidence! We are all entitled to our own interpretations and beliefs - I don't critisize others for their belief and I would certainly appreciate the same respect - grow a little, broaden your mind, and offer some margin for error on your own part - and don't be so harsh on others because if your goal is to convince someone of your theories and belief telling them they are "stupid" is certainly not the way to go about it! Good Luck and God Bless - Rosie

Answer 7

Very smart people can reconcile religion and science with comprimising either, therefore the people you are talking about cannot be all that smart. Or if by some fluke they a, there is always the possibility they are brainwashed into cultlike behaviour that negates their ability to use any of that supposed intelligence.

But I have to agree with even the dummies that your analogy with the mule kinda makes you not so bright either.

Answer 8

I believe in micro evolution because its scientifically proven, however I don't believe in the theory of macro evolution. Both macro evolution and creation are theories afterall so both require a faith beyond scientific proof. So therefore, why are you ignorant enough to call me stupid because you have faith in something other than what I do.

Answer 9

Religion promotes people to be insular. But some people are just naturally idiots.

Answer 10

they're skeptical because chimps have stopped evolving into humans a while ago. but hard to ignore the physiological similarities, though.