Can I get a short concise answer from an evolutionist on truth?

Question

It is common today to drop the word theory when reading or discussing evolution. To an evolutionist, can you admit it is a theory? Science stands seperate from evolution because it is fact. Evolution is not fact, it is one of many theorys(like intelligent design). Can you simply acknowledge that it is an attempt to explain our origins? I realize you might say God believers should do the same, but evolution is not a religion, right?

Answer 1

the National academy of sciences is dominated by aethists so why is it a surprize that someone who rules out any type of perosnal God long ago would take the only position that allows their philosophy to survie... its a philosophy thing not a data thing

Im not sure it always qualifies as a theory... it should maybe be called a speculation when the support is weak

I think evolutionists are not trained in assumptions and the war happens mostly in the assumptions.

everyone looks at the same data through different asusmptions creationists and evolutionists and if you dont realize the huge philosophical baggage evoltuionists bring to the table you are a sitting duck to believe its like an operational science

truth is nothing positive in technology, medicine or agreiculture that affects day to day living rests on macro evolution
but alot of negatives like social darwinism do

Answer 2

evolution is a theory, true.

but so is gravity, time, etc.

what people dont seem to get is that in the scientific community the word "theory" has a different meaning than, say, two guys sitting in a bar talking about sports where one says "i have a theory on why so and so didnt win". This in reality would be a hypothesis. When scientists use the word theory it means something that has been repeatedly, uncontestably observed and is by far the most likely, if not the only, explanation for the phenomenon. The term "scientific law" went out of fashion in the 20th century with the advent of quantam physics


...but you wanted a short answer: go to google and type the following-

define: theory

Answer 3

You seem confused about the meaning of the word "theory."

"Intelligent design" is only a "theory" if you use the word to mean "speculation."

It is not a "scientific theory" and has no reason to be included in the same discussion with scientific theories. Whether or not evolution is a scientific theory or fact is irrelevant.

Here is a discussion of the word "theory" and should help you understand why "Intelligent Design" is not a scientific theory:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory

ID is more of an unsubstantiated opinion than anything else.

Answer 4

ALL scientific facts are theories.

Evolution is a theory but so is gravity.

A fact is taken as a scientific theory which makes predictions which are borne out by the evidence, and which the available evidence supports.

By that definition, evolution is one of the most factual scientific theories in existence, as almost the whole of the sciences of genetics and paleontology provide huge evidence in support of it.

There is not a single biologist (actually not a single scientist of any kind) in the National Academy of Sciences who does not believe the theory of evolution is fact.

Answer 5

I don't think you understand what the word "theory" means in scientific terms. Relativity is "just" a "theory". Nothing in science is ever deemed to be 100% infallible fact. We just make observations and organize them in the most logical way possible to make sense of how the universe works. Someday, someone might come along with a better theory than Relativity, just as relativity is a better theory than Classical Mechanics. Someday, someone may come along with a better theory than evolution, but I assure you it will not look anything like ID, because ID is not a scientific theory.

Answer 6

Ignorant people used to pour human excrement near their village wells and when they got sick from it, they blamed demons and gods. Then, when mankind made a tool to see things too small for our human eyes, we humans saw bacteria and other small creatures that had always been there. . . creatures as normal as any other kind of lifeform on the planet, only smaller. We just hadn't noticed them before. Some people then said that the images in the microscope of the bacteria were a trick, that men with such tools were liars. They said, "If bacteria are real, then tell us where they came from?" The men with the microscopes said, "We don't know where they come from." The ignorant then swelled with self-righteousness and said all-knowingly, "So, you admit that you are wrong?" The men with the microscopes then said, "We are not right or wrong. We are only looking, seeing and showing you what we have seen. Please. Come see for yourself again. It is very very clear to see." The stubbornly ignorant then said, "We do not need to look again at any more abominations created by this lying, cursed tool (the microscope). Our holy book tells us that there are no creatures but those created by God." The men with the microscope then say, "But, certainly God created these tiny creatures as well." The morbidly ignorant then said in great anger, "You will burn in Hell for suggesting that God would create such abominations! Why would God create creatures that He could not see? You are evil! You must DIE!! You are guilty of trying to create a new religion!!" Some of the men with the microsopes are burned at the stake and some of the men escape the insanely ignorant and flee to greater civilizations where they work hard all their lives to learn more and more about bacteria, and, they eventually isolate and discover the particular bacteria that causes people to get sick when they foul their water. They spend the rest of their lives trying to tell people and teach them about the bacteria and disease and that they should not foul their drinking water. The men with the microscopes are ridiculed and are shunned and have no money. But, they keep working and trying to teach people about bacteria and disease until their last days on earth. More generations of men and women with microscopes follow and they, too work hard to learn and teach and inform and help mankind. Finally, the ignorant relent under governmental pressure, and the wiser among them put a stop to fouling the well water. Then, they rage. "How dare these scientific men and women with microscopes come into our tidy world of God's goodness and wisdom and upset it with unfounded ideas... with such outlandish atheist theories? Why. . . any "decent" person knows that bacteria do not exist. The well water is safe only because we have prayed together and because we have put enough money in the collection plate to please our God. These scientific, atheist people are evil and we must unite to rid them from our God's Kingdom." The scientists listen and shake their heads at the ignorant people and then continue to look at the real world. They make more tools that can see farther and tools that can see closer. And, they try and try to show ignorant people what they have seen. When scientists saw DNA with a microscope, they saw the way life changes through the years. It was very very clear to see. But, the ignorant say," Is this an attempt to explain our origins? Is this a new religion?" The scientists say, "We are only looking, seeing and showing you what we have seen." The ignorant say, "So, you admit that you are wrong and that evolution is only a theory?" The scientists then escape the insanely ignorant and flee far to wiser civilizations.

Answer 7

There are many theories currently being debated in science today that Christians don't pay attention to. Why the staunch questioning and rejection of a simple, logical theory about a biological process? What's being threatened?

I have a theory.

Answer 8

In science, theories are developed to explain observable fact. Evolution itself (mutation causing change through time) is an observable fact; the theory itself is constantly under development as we understand more about genetics.

Answer 9

Yes, evolution is a theory. A scientific hypothesis has to hold up to intense scrutiny before it will even be considered a theory, though.

ID is not a theory; it is merely pseudoscience. It makes no predictions about development of species and it is not a product of the scientific method.

Answer 10

All aspects of science are theory's or were theory's at one point in time. All that means is that it is the most likely answer, until physical repeatable evidence can show otherwise, at which time the theory will be adapted to fit the new evidence. I don't care for I.D., there isn't any real evidence to support it, I like Unintelligent design, there is a lot more evidence to support that.