A question about evolution.?

Question

Why do people say that evolution is a fact? I am not pushing creationism. But to say that evolution is a fact is to lie. It is call the "theory" or evolution because it hasn't been proven there is evidence that supports the hypothesis but it could easily support other theories. To say that is a fact is the same as those people that say Jesus is your savior is a fact or every part of a religous text is a fact. Be honest.

I never said I support creationism. I think they are both flawed. So you can't say that the reason you chose it is the other one fails.

Magneto there are laws in science. They are the basis for the further exploration. I know what you are talking about though and that is the whole thing science isn't black and white it is all about grays so you can't say it is a fact.

Answer 1

I learned about evolution fro the Outer Limits ha ha ha

oh I was joking one has to beleive in something if not that it is another

Answer 2

A theory is something that someone believes, and then tries to prove. Most people with theories, be they scientists or anyone else, usually want others to believe with them, so they sell others on their ideas, usually with much passion. If they are really persuasive, they get a lot of people to believe in the theory also. Eventually, if enough people believe, it is known as the 'prevailing theory'. But it is still just a belief, based on faith, regardless of how many people believe it, or how important the proponents are.

Many, many 'prevailing theories', some which have been taught as fact for hundreds of years, have eventually been disproven, so until there is empirical evidence to upgrade a 'theory' to a 'law', you ought to question everything, and treat a theory as a theory.

For example, the law (not theory) of bio-genesis states that life can only come from life. This is accepted as a law by science, yet people who call themselves 'scientists' also believe in the theory of evolution, even though this theory has no empirical evidence and violates the bio-genesis law. This is not logical, so why do people do it?

Because a theory is, was, and always will be, a belief based on faith.

For many years now, one person who lectures on evolution and dinosaurs has had a standing offer of $250,000 for anyone who can provide empirical evidence for evolution. In all the years, there have yet to be any takers. Check it out at www.drdino.com

Answer 3

I think many people get the wrong idea when they hear "evolution." I do believe God created the world. However, that does not mean that evolution is not a fact. The two concepts are not mutually exclusive. Evolution comes about through the process of natural selection, which is fact; it has been observed. Certain traits in different species are more useful for survival and over time become more common. Eventually, radical changes take place in the gene pool of a species resulting in very different creature than its ancestors. I think evolution and creationism are both true.

Answer 4

gravity is also a theory.it remains a theory because it is something we cannot prove by recreating(IE. can we make a fission reactor than creates energy by fusing atoms that is large enough to mimic the gravitational force that is present in all of our solar system and presumably the universe?) No but we can catalog observable phenomena and draw logical conclusions from there.
to be an accepted theory(like evolution,and gravity) scientists have to look at all data and fit them into the equation.We are commonly working backward chronologically.To be a theory, it has to hold up to numerous probes by the scientific community.The fact that something is an accepted theory is huge,it is saying that this the singularly most probable explanation.
Intelligent design advocates like to argue semantics on the language of theory. But the truth is Intelligent design isn't even close to gaining theory status.intelligent design selectively looks at the facts it wants it to address and disregards any that are counter to its belief system.Again science by definition has to take all data into account.
Creationism is a"theory" created by a bunch of illiterate goat herders to try and explain the world around them in absence of science. Within the scientific community there as no debate regarding the validity of evolution.

Answer 5

Quotes from Dr. Art Sippo, Catholic apologist:

Evolution is a scientific theory based on the observation of the fossil record, living forms, and the way that organisms exist and change in the real world. It is NOT a religious faith.

The origin of life has NOTHING to do with the theory of evolution. They are two separate topics. Life did not "evolve" from non-life. It arose by mechanisms that we are currently unsure about. By contrast, we have a good handle on what is going on in evolution. Most of the mechanisms by which life evolves have been discovered. We do not know or understand everything yet, but we have a pretty good handle on it. As to the origin of life, we have barely scratched the surface.

As to the term creationist, what else is there is to use? "Creationist" and "creationism" are technical terms in Catholic theology for the creation of each human soul de novo by God. It is a proper term with a correct theological usage that is being hijacked by malcontents to give false credence to their position.

One must realize that there are no miracles in science, only mysteries that we do not understand. Any genuine miracle will just be another unexplained phenomenon in science. It is the theological virtue of faith that makes it a miracle.

The problem with the creationists is that they want miracles to be scientifically validated. They are not willing to separate science from religion. This is a Baconian view of science that was abandoned over 100 years ago. Science deals only with material or conceptual realities that can be measured physically or manipulated mathematically. Therefore, miracles are outside of science's purview and can never be the scientifically valid answer to any question.

Do yourself a favor and read The Structures of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas Kuhn and some of the work of Karl Popper. In the 21st Century, we accept that Relativity and Quantum Theory are both useful but mutually incompatible. But we still believe in them both. This is called cognitive dissonance and it is just the way that it is in human knowledge.

You need to get over that 19th Century delusion that everything fits together neatly. It was wrong then and it is wrong now. And it is why the creationists seduce a lot of people.

Creation per se was making everything from nothing. The closest analogy to that act of creation in science is the Big Bang. God did not depart deistically from the world thereafter. But I would distinguish between creation and providence.

Creation also is what happened at the origin of humanity. Humankind was specially created. It appears that God used a pre-existing living creature as the recipient of His image, but what He did in creating us was not the result of natural processes.

The Church has never defined infallibly that Genesis 1-3 had to be taken literally. In fact the PBC permitted that we did not have to interpret the "6 days" as literal days. It is only the modern Enlightenment view of history that requires Genesis to be literally true if it is true at all. For St. Augustine, it was just analogy for what really happened and I think that is what was generally thought by he Fathers. They used the literal story in their work because they thought it was basically true even if it was not literally so. And until modern times, they had no alternative understanding to use.
http://www.envoymagazine.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1573&whichpage=1
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In a sane religious system, faith and science compliment each other, they do not contradict. To quote Pope John Paul II:

Science can purify religion from error and superstition; religion can purify science from idolatry and false absolutes. Each can draw the other into a wider world, a world in which both can flourish.... We need each other to be what we must be, what we are called to be."

Answer 6

A scientific theory is just that... a theory. Scientists have never asserted evolution as a fact.... it is a probable theory about the origin of our species. like all scientific theories, it is based on evidence and is nevertheless tentative. It is subject to disprove. For now, based on existing evidence, there is a high probability that creatures on this planet had evolved.

Answer 7

No responsible scientist would claim that evolution is a fact. While it is supported by a preponderance of evidence, in science, this is adequate to consider something as proven fact.

Answer 8

The answer to your first question is that people haven't had a second and closer look at the evidence. I agree that evolution is not a fact. I would encourage you to have a look at the video "Icons of Evolution".

Answer 9

Ok, you can hate me if you hate Christians, because I am one, and I'm not going to give you a huge rant about evolution. Here's what I say: You drive past a junkyard of scrapmetal where you see a car sitting there, did that car evolve from those pieces of scrap metal? No. Someone created it. In this case a person created the car and scrap metal, it just so happened that they ended up in the same place. Back to your original question: Those people are retarded throw the THEORY portion back in their face, I did that to my uniterian (sp?) friend and she shut up about it.

Answer 10

"Theory" is the most misunderstood word in science. If your're saying you don't belive in theories, then what about gravity? No gravity is NOT a law, it is a theory. I majored in physics so I know what I'm talking about. There are NO laws in the world of science, only theories. concepts can be theories and be true at the same time.

Answer 11

It is a theory. Like I said before, it takes more faith to believe in evolution than in creationism. There is more evidence, in my opinion, supporting the Bible and what it says, than there is proof of life evolving....can you prove it?