I believe the theory of Evolution is nonsense, why do people believe it and require students to study it?

Question

Hi. First off I'm in school in the library doing research for another class, but they have wireless and so I decided to ask this question on my laptop. My 7th grade biology class will study Evolution later in the semester. I got in trouble with the teacher because I called it nonsense and told him that I had more important things to do with my time than waste it on that stupid theory. Like most girls I want good grades but not at the expense of learning useless stuff. I believe that life is too complex to have been started by a simple process moving to more complex life forms. I think the biblical account makes a lot more sense in that a creator started it all. An Orthodox Rabbi (I'm Jewish but Reformed) that works with teens at a local Orthodox Shul and is a very learned man says Evolution has been disproven by lots of scientists. He says that DNA analysis disproves Evolution. So why does the school district force us to learn something simply for political correctness.

I intend to let this question go to voting because all the answers are so great. I cant choose. I am taking notes on what people are saying and as many have suggested will try to keep an open mind. I will ask the rabbi I referred to for more information on who in the scientific realm feels evolution is not correct. I have to admit something. I was chastised by my biology teacher for speaking out of turn and this question was a response to my anger over that. Nevetheless, logic tells me that it is difficult if not impossible for chance (natural selection) to cause cells and internal structures to function as they do in living organisms. A few people alluded to that. Also a few people felt that Evolution is not contradictory to Genesis in the Torah (Bible). I plan to pursue that. I also plan to suggest if I can write a report showing the fallacies in evolution (if I ultimately thing there are). I really hope my uncle was not a monkey (lol, lol).

Answer 1

Hi,
Your Rabbi is incorrect and perhaps being dishonest or he has been grossly misinformed. DNA analysis has not disproved Evolution, in fact it has done much to support it.

It is clear from what you say that you have already made up your mind on the issue but since you did not appear to be sufficiently informed about evolution to suspect that the Rabbi was wrong I think you would do well to re-examine the issue with a open mind.

Firstly Darwin's theory of Evolution does not contradict scripture, it is perfectly compatible with it. So, before you dismiss it out of hand as nonsense, please consider it more carefully.

There are two separate issues; does evolution take place and is it sufficient to account for the diversity of life we see.

To the first we can confidently answer yes. Evolution has been observed in micro-organisms, the fossil record of horses and in recent history on the Pepper-Moth.

To second question is not properly a scientific one, since it is not repeatable or falsifiable. Neither is it a question that can be answered with certainty. However, there are good reasons to believe that it might have been sufficient to account for all life. Such reasons are to detailed to go into here but if you have more questions feel free to mail me and I will do what I can to present the evidence to you in an impartial manner as possible.

I must also point out one error in the other answers; fossil b claims evolution is wrong because acquired characteristics are not passed on to the next generation. This is not what Darwin claimed fossil has failed to grasp the basic concept of how evolution occurs, this is common when people dismiss ideas out of hand. In, fact, their used to be a competing theory of how species changed involving acquired characteristics being passed on, it was called Lamacism and Darwin was arguing against it.

Answer 2

My best advice is to regurgitate the material and get your A while the people that still haven't "evolved" very far from monkeys argue they are right and get C's in the class.

It's good that we call Evolution a theory because that's what it is. The argument has been going on for generations. It was a nice proposal 150 years ago which has since yielded nothing more than data that illustrates adaptation as opposed to evolution. The whole theory is based on genetic mutations which make the organism more favorable for survival. Given what we know now about biological and genetic processes it becomes more difficult everyday to believe in such random events.

Consider bacteria who utilize many of the same biochemical and genetic mechanisms as mammals including response to mutations as well as metabolic processes. Are we supposed to believe that through a handful of mutations, bacteria which can't be seen by the naked eye somehow evolved into mammals?
Also, if we all evolved from inorganic matter, where did that matter come from? You have to pick a satring point somewhere and evolution can't really reconcile that fact with any substantial.

If evolution is true, where is the mutation that makes my wife want to satisfy my every need when I release the correct pheromone? There's got to be a selective advantage to that. Also, is the human race perfection or will we evolve into something more sophisticated? Maybe we will all evolve into evolutionists, there must be a selective advantage to such enlightment.

Answer 3

The theory of evolution is not simply limited to that of the origin of life altogether. I personally believe that God created everything. But I also believe that there is such a thing as evolution. There are other components to it, such as natural selection, which simply cannot be denied. If one animal is better suited to life, then it will most likely reproduce more successfully than others, and soon its genes will be more successfull through its progeny, and the organisms lacking the more successful gene will die off and wow! evolution happened. There isn't a simple answer, and the two concepts do not have to be seperate.

Answer 4

Whoa where to start. First this information has you is to understand that the earth is more than 10 thousand years old, once you get past that; evolution is a theory that only describes an understanding of fossils evidence, its not the "hippieman" trying to steal your reformed Jewishness's. Second one can say the current theory (evolution) to describe the world living around us, as a simple process, however the scientific understanding that gets you to a proven hypothesis (i.e. evolution) is not, and this is why you need to understand it. So therefor it has not been disproven (Because it is still in use). Also evolution is the basis for other disciplines and theories such as natural selection, ecology, biodiversity, biology, etc.

Answer 5

Your rabbi bashes evolution because he doesn't want it to be true. If it's true, then all that he has put his life into is wrong, and we can't have that, now can we? Have you ever had a flu shot? Welcome to the wonderful world of evolution! Yes, the flu bug evolves -- much faster than higher-order species like humans -- and new vaccines must be developed year in and year out to combat the latest strain. Evolution is not nonsense. It is fact. You may disagree with the Darwinian explanation of natural selection -- some people do -- but you cannot disagree with the fact that evolution is occurring. Don't close your 7th grade mind just yet; you're too young for that.

Answer 6

The theory of Evolution is the best explanation for observations made, and it's predictive. If you're learning science, the Theory of Evolution is something to study as an example of science in action.

You will learn lots of useless stuff in school (in California, we had to study the Missions -- when am I ever going to use that?).

Your Orthodox Rabbi is mistaken. There are no scientists with good "disproofs" for evolution. Next time you see him, ask him to name names. DNA analysis does not disprove evolution. Quite the contrary. The fact that animals and humans alike have the same genetic code shows that people are animals too -- not really a separate form of Creation.

So -- why is your rabbi forcing you to learn something wrong for "religious correctness?" Pay no attention to him. Learn what you need to in school to get your good grade.

Answer 7

I would suggest you study the subject, look at the evidence and come to your own conclusions. Do not, as a matter of course, believe everything you are told.

Look at the alternatives by all means, but do not reject something because it seems "too complex" or difficult, or you cannot understand it.

Also, ask yourself, is it in your rabbi's interest to say to you "perhaps God does not exist".

I can assure you, after many years study, that "Evolution has been disproven by lots of scientists" is wrong at best, and a lie at worst. As are the rest of his pronouncements.

Religious "creationists" (and they are not just Jewish) only seek to disprove evolution - and normally fail quite badly. They never come up with evidence to prove their own theory. They just point at a book and say "You must believe". Why do you think they do that?

Always keep an open mind, and then come to YOUR decision, whatever that may be.

Good luck.

Answer 8

If you want to consider both Evolution and Creationism as theories, only Evolution has empirical evidence supporting it. No empirical, scientific proof exists that either confirms or disproves the biblical origin of life.

Who is to say that God did not initiate the "spark" of life on the planet, and that human evolution was a carefully shepherded process by a divine hand? If an individual "believes" in something so strongly that other opinions may be disregarded or dismissed without examination, then that individual has ceased to "think" about the issue.

Answer 9

Your rabbi is mistaken -- the evidence for evolution is vast, written in the language of genetics and inscribed in every cell of every organism that's ever lived. Every new piece of evidence we find -- fossils, genetic sequencing, new species discovered -- continues to support the principle of evolution; and at present it is the best explanation we have for the world we observe around us. Contrary to what the theists insist, we DO have fossil records for the intermediary forms we would expect to see; and the gaps that remain are very small and shrinking fast. We DO see organisms with "half-eyes", or mere photosensitive patches of skin, and other in-between steps of supposedly "irreducibly complex" structures -- and they exist in lifeforms that are CURRENTLY living on the planet!

Your rabbi's trouble is that, in order to justify his faith he is PRESUPPOSING that the Torah MUST true and then trying to rationalize away the evidence that's staring him right in the face. It would be better for you in your studies to take the skeptical, scientifice approach -- FIRST you gather in all the evidence, and THEN you ask the question, "What hypothesis best explains everything I'm seeing here?"

Over the centuries, organized religion has time and again been forced to cave under the weight of overwhelming evidence -- it was once considered execution-worthy heresy to claim that the world was round, or that the Earth wasn't the center of the universe, or that the sky wasn't just a dome covering the world; and now we all (except for a certain lunatic fringe) take these things for granted. In fact, every single time Faith and Science have clashed over some matter of the natural world -- the causes of disease (germ theory, or demon possession?), the worldwide Deluge (funny how the people in China never seemed to notice that they were all drowning during that time period!), the age of the planet (you just can't FORCE potassium to decay into argon any faster) -- science has won; and not just won, but resoundly thrashed faith. EVERY SINGLE TIME. If two horses were going to race, and one horse has WON every race of the last thousand races, and one horse hs LOST every race of the last thousand races, where would you put YOUR money?

My advice? When you study evolution in your class, actually STUDY. READ what you're assigned, and try to just take it in, rather than presupposing that it MUST be false somehow. There's no reason why evolution couldn't simply be the METHOD your god used to craft life on this planet.

Answer 10

Well my religion denies the existence of gravity but they made me study physics in school too. Tough luck heh?

Here are the points for studying evolution:

1) Students do not get to choose what they learn and what they do not. I am sure if we allow that we will have empty classes all along.

2) Evolution is true, there are no serious biologists who doubt it and you are too young to know all the evidence for its truth to make a statement that "Evolution is nonsense".

3) This guy's or that guy's religion can not dictate what is taught in classrooms. What if one to ask for teaching the ancient Greek myths of creation of God's and titans and stuff in the classrooms?

4) Even if in your later life after studying biology you still are not convinced that evolution is true, knowing what all the scientists and the majority of non-scientists believe in can only help you.