Evolution???

Question

Why do they call it an un-proven THEORY that doesn't pass the scientific test??

Answer 1

Because nobody has seen us evolving from monkey to what we are right now. It is only a theory unless proven to be true by our own eyes. If not, you cannot pass it down as a law.

Answer 2

Uneducated and ignorant people may indeed call evolution just a 'theory'.

They intend this to dismiss the theory, attempting to indicate that there's no proof behind the hypothesis, that it's just a 'guess' or 'speculation'.

However, this is not what is meant by 'theory' in science.

In science, a theory is an explanation that has passed every scientific test. Thus, we have the theory of gravity, the theory of relativity, the theory of heliocentrism, the germ theory of disease, and many others.

There is no higher level of scientific thought than the theory. There seems to be some kind of misapprehension that somehow if a scientific theory is absolutely proven, it becomes a 'law'. However, this could not be farther from the truth.

A scientific 'law' is simply an observation of something that happens. It carries no explanation, only the fact that it occurred. The 'law' of gravity is that things fall. No explanation. The theory of gravity explains WHY things fall, and is a far more powerful and useful scientific tool, which can be tested, refined and modified based on experimental data. The 'law' of gravity can be modified based on the theory, so that we could more properly say that the 'law' of gravity is that objects are drawn towards each according to their mass and proximity. On Earth, that means that objects 'fall' towards the Earth.

The theory of biological evolution through natural selection has withstood every scientific test, and remains one of the most powerful, useful, and influential theories in the entire realm of science. There is more physical evidence backing the theory of evolution than there is for the theory of gravity, or the theory of relativity.

The only people who say it 'doesn't pass the scientific test' are those who don't understand science, or who refuse to allow logic and reason to contradict a couple of sentences of their holy book.

Answer 3

Many accepted facts within science are technically theories. A hypothesis doesn't become elevated to theory status until it is strongly supported by observed evidence; and a theory that is supported by overwhelming evidence, while still technically a theory, can be viewed for all practical purposes as a fact.

For example, the existence of atoms is a theory. Atomic theory happens to be the theory that forms the whole foundation of science - but it is still, when all is said and done, "just a theory". No-one has ever seen an atom. But we infer their existence, and even their structure, from overwhelming evidence that consistently supports this theory, and the absence of any viable alternative theory that explains all the observed evidence equally well.

Biological evolution falls into the same category. It is supported by voluminous consistent evidence from many sources, which increases every year, in fact virtually every month; and no-one has proposed any other scientific theory that explains all the observed evidence as well as evolution does. Therefore evolution is of necessity the accepted theory and has attained the status of "virtual fact", though many of its specific modes of operation are still being investigated, with various hypotheses being tested - just as in atomic theory, and every other scientific discipline.
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Answer 4

It has passed every test. That's why it's a theory. Proven would be elimination of every last shard of doubt. That's why the term theory of gravity is used.

Answer 5

In science, a theory is an explaination.
Evolution is a fact, because we see organisms evolving in real time, and we have the trail of the fossil record to support long term changes.

Otherwise, read haysoos2's answer...he covered the answer very well.

Answer 6

Do not believe in evolution. Evolution is a lie and has no facts behind it. What you can believe is the Bible. God created this earth and everything else.

Answer 7

Their are still some breaks in the process of proving it. Until those are completly worked out( they find the missing link ) it'll remain unproven. However they have proven it well enough for it to be well believed, they just haven't completely locked it down.

Answer 8

Many reasons. The fossil record. If survival of the fittest is true, why do diseases pass on, how did the amino acids pass through the area of a spark to become living, where did the primordial soup come from, etc etc?

Answer 9

Phrases often used to denigrate a position by those who stand behind nothing more than a belief.

Answer 10

Actually nobody says that except your posse of answerers who you got to come on at the same time to answer your "question".