Gravity is just a theory...
Quantum mechanics is just a theory...
Plate techtonics is just a theory...
...so yes evolution is a theory, but do you understand what being a scientific theory entails? It is not just a random guess, but rather an extremely detailed approach at analyzing all available data to reach a conclusion, and then testing this over, and over again...
...so 150 years later evolution is still a theory, but with each new piece of evidence it becomes a stronger one...
Next thing you know fundies will want to teach 'intelligent falling' instead of gravity because ...'it's just a theory'
2006-10-10 09:28:23 · 15 answers · asked by bc_munkee 5 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Born Again Christian: There is no law of gravity. While the efeects can not be denied, the mechanisms are not understood...much like evolution.
Hence theory, and not law.
2006-10-10 10:38:28 · update #1
The inadequate education of the person who says it.
Actually, "imply" is too passive. Let's go for "indicate".
You are, of course, wasting your time...
2006-10-10 10:24:46 · answer #1 · answered by Bad Liberal 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Well scientists believe in what is called, "The Scientific Method" which is a set way of conducting experiments, and documenting. One of the steps in it is to review previous literature on the type of experiment that you are doing. For instance if you wanted to do an experiment on gravity, you would have to document Newton's theory's and everyone elses theories. Allowing for this means that anything proven by any scientist can be disproven. That's actually the beauty of the "Scientific Method" because it allows for out of the box thinking.
2006-10-10 16:33:33 · answer #2 · answered by ben_ev0lent 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
People get all bent out of shape about "proof." A wise scientist once said, "There is no proof in science outside pure mathematics." Sure, science is "just a theory." But it's a theory based on the best observation and analysis we can muster -- IOW, it's a theory striving for adequation to reality. Electromagnetism is also "just a theory," but creationists have no problem turning their lights on or using their computers -- to trash scientific "theories."
Funny that the same people who say evolution is "just a theory" wouldn't say that God is "just a theory," even though the theory of God is based on much more slender and selective evidence and abstruse reasoning (when it's based on evidence or reasoning at all).
2006-10-10 16:44:48 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
If a theory is to be proved by experimentation, the experiment must make some prediction. In a sense, the future must be foretold.
And yet, scientists have constantly failed to prove by experiments that life can evolve from non-life.
So, that means the very first life form did NOT evolve. So, how did it come into existence?
A theory is merely a guess. Once proven, it becomes a Law, like the Law of Gravity, which is no longer a theory. I guess you didn't get the memo.
HA HA HA HA HA
2006-10-10 16:51:59 · answer #4 · answered by Born Again Christian 5 · 1⤊ 3⤋
It's supposed to take advantage of the ambiguity of the word "theory." Scientists have an exact definition, but in the English Language, theory has connotations of "guess" or "possible explanation" that means something other than "fact." Similarly, the word "fact" is misused to mean "true assertion," when it actually means "statement that can be proven or disproven."
Dare you think about how they'll misuse "falsifiable"? "OMG, if it's falsifiable, that means it must be more likely to be false, right? DUrrrr..."
2006-10-10 16:33:24 · answer #5 · answered by godsbakery 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
It is a way to dismiss something that you do not agree with. Evolution is just a theory, but it is a better (and testable) theory than the theory of God.
BTW, the Bible is real. But, the myths IN the Bible are not necessarily real.
2006-10-10 16:33:54 · answer #6 · answered by Your Best Fiend 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
As it's been pointed out many times, this is just the difference between a layman's and a scientist's definition of theory. Maybe if we include the definition in every evolution question we ask/answer, it might at least make it's way through the Yahoo Answers community. Doubt it, but maybe.
2006-10-10 16:31:12 · answer #7 · answered by Phil 5 · 0⤊ 3⤋
Actually the 'it's just a theory' 'argument' is even worse than that because evolution is observed - it is 'fact' - and is part of the evidence for the Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection.
2006-10-10 16:40:49 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 3⤋
Evolution is a fact. The theory(ies) of evolution, how it actually happens, is up for debate. Think about that whilst sitting upon your coccyx , creationists.
"no the Bible is very real
gravity has been proven to work too" - but the bible has not been proven, so lose "too" at the end. Gravity works, but why? we have "theories" on why.
2006-10-10 16:32:53 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 4⤋
Once again...
The definition of scientific theory:
A set of statements or principles devised to explain a group of facts or phenomena, especially one that has been repeatedly tested or is widely accepted and can be used to make predictions about natural phenomena.
2006-10-10 16:32:26 · answer #10 · answered by trouthunter 4 · 5⤊ 1⤋