Not to hurt anyone feelings or put them down. how do people base their beliefs on evolution?

Question

Can someone explain to me why and what evolutionists beleive because I want to know the facts that they're basing their beliefs on.

Answer 1

No feelings hurt here. I assume that the term you invented, "evolutionists", refers to people who believe in evolution.

The statement that anyone would "base their beliefs on evolution" shows a complete lack of understanding of science. What the "godists" never seem to realize is that many people base their beliefs on a scientific analysis of the world. This includes things like genetics and adaptation of species to their environment. Evolution is a result, not a cause.

Answer 2

WE come to our beliefs pretty much like everyone does it. We are shown and told things and those things seem to make sense and they agree pretty much with the things we already believe, so we adopt them.

The main question that evolution addresses is how did the animals that once were become the animals that are now. Like a detective story, you go out, look for clues and try out different theories.

In the case of evolution the clues have been so overwhelming that it has gained the status of 'proven beyond a reasonable doubt'. But at the roots are just an explanation for a lot of things we have found in the ground and a lot of things we see around us now.

This is the same thing that is going on in astronomy and cosmology. Look to see what you can find and then go about explaining it as best you can. There is no way I can make a planer or a sun in the lab, but there are planets and stars. They got here somehow. What are the clues? This is all we do with evolution.

Answer 3

Here we go... Darwin observed that species change over time. He did not know the mechanism for this change (it's called mutation), but surmised correctly that, however it occurred, some changes would be beneficial to an organism, and some detrimental. A beneficial change would be passed on to the organism's descendents, who would continue to pass it on, and the unmodified line might be uncompetitive and die out. Carry this process on long enough, and a change could become arbitrarily large.
That is the bare outline, and we now know the specifics:
- Variation occurs. Due to radiation, chemicals, or other insult, DNA can be modified in an organism's germ cells, and be propagated to descendants. The modification may be to replace one or more bases, which may simply change one protein, or by activating all or part of an intron or de-activating all or part of an exon, the change can be arbitrarily large; all that is needed is that the change not be so large that the variant cannot cross-breed with the original type. In addition to base changes, other changes (such as duplicated chromosomes) can occur; one such change is responsible for Down's syndrome. Every commercially important plant or animal is a mutation of an original wild type, some changed to the extent that the variant is no longer cross-fertile with the original wild type, i.e. it is a new species. The first premise of the theory of evolution is that such variation occurs, and we see that it does.
- Selection occurs. As noted, some variants will survive preferably to the unmodified type -- faster, stronger, better resistance to infection, etc. etc., and such variants may take over from the unmodified type. Since the dawn of agriculture, man has been doing selection for plants that yield more, cows that produce more, and so on. The second premise of the theory of evolution is that such selection occurs, and we see that it does.

Now, these are the only two premises of the theory. Since both premises are correct, the theory is proved to be correct. Which makes evolution something of an oddity among scientific theories, which in general cannot be proved correct. (Even a theory as solidly demonstrated as Special Relativity is not provable.)

Now the mere proof that the theory is correct is not helpful in developing a genetic history of any particular species; for this, other evidence is needed. Fortunately, there is a lot of it available, and we now know to good precision what sort of life forms lived at various times. For details of this, see the reference.

Answer 4

The same way people base their beliefs on gravity. Evolution is a scientific theory. People look at fossil records whose ages can be calculated by radioactive decay (which is not a theory, it's a law). Looking at prehistoric hominids, the fossil records show that human's ancestors did change over time. This is scientific evidence, meaning it is a fact. People who believe in evolution like to look at the facts and evidence of any kind of science.

By the way, christians used to believe that the sun revolved around the earth, and persecuted anyone who believed otherwise. However, that has been proven wrong. Right now, evolution is going through the same process that the model of the solar system was going through in Galileo's time.

Answer 5

well, darwin probably wrote a few gigantic books on it and many other scientists prolly have written books about it. go read some or find spark notes like lazy people do.. although thats a lot of reading id find spark notes if i were you =d. if you just think about it it all makes sense really... but if you havent heard about w/e its called with the whole world being just 1 continent before... then i could see where you lack the ability to ponder and invision it and tie everything together. I understand how the earth and each planet came together.. but my question is how did space come together? Theres a reason for everything, excepttt this. Now scientist say space is LIMITED? but then again, can it be infitinite? that seems hard to imagine... *headache lol* So if its limited, then whats after it? i mean.. if you stand at the edge of space and look out to the "end" ... what does it look like.. blackness? but then again wouldnt that be something, meaning outerspace past stars... if you try to step into "the end"... do you hit a wall? you couldn't.. because humans invented "walls" and i doubt some1 went to the end of space and built a wall made of glass or something. Is it toxicious or a mixture of gravity we arent used too? that would mean it ISNT the end, rather a place we havent already learned to adapt to and search. And (last i promise .. i think ima explode soon) how did space get made? a chemical reaction or something? a chemical reaction hasto happen from something already existing.. and there hasta be somewhere already existing for the chemical reaction to happen. Did the world start by 2 atoms hitting each other? WHERE THE HECK DID THE ATOMS COME FROM!? LOL ok im going crazy now i better stop =) ... (just my opinions, im not an atheist nut or anything and these are just things i thought of one day lol, they dont need to be yours also) Im not a firm believer that god necessarily exists and created you and me... but i am open to the fact that there may have been a spirit or whatever that created something that erupted into what we see today on accident. In many cases i think religion is just another word for not having an answer to something and just resorting to something fictional to make ourselves feel more confortable, which, dont get me wrong, is not a bad thing, as long as it is controlled and doesnt affect people who dont agree with your beliefs. Because i have no proof to proof either spirit/evolution-in-space theory, i have to be open to ideas, without necessarily agreeing with them. Never say never.. just not 100% sure.. =D... please excuse me while i puke due to over-mind-blowage...

Answer 6

The word believe is a tricky one. I believe that the theory of evolution has so much evidence it is about as close as it gets to a scientific fact. I don't believe in evolution, but I believe that it is the best explanation for the existing evidence. As a geologist, I am convinced that the earth is billions of years old. I am convinced that the stromatolites (algae mats) from Australia are billions of years old. I have seen the bending and faulting and studied layer upon layer of sediment as it built up over millions of years. I have seen the fossils in various beds and seen how they changed and evolved over time. There is enough evidence to make volumes of books. The people who wrote genesis were not correct. I wouldn't say there isn't a god or that scientists know everything but certain things such as god making Eve from Adam's rib can be essentially ruled out using common sense. They were just old stories created by scientificly ignorant ancient people to try to explain the world. Humans are simply a type of animal and and this is evidenced by the DNA we share (most of it anyway).

Answer 7

I believe in God, however, I also believe in the theory of evolution. As more and more fossils are dug up, the theory becomes more and more of a fact. We have evolved from microorganisms into what we are today. If you look at photographs from ages past, you can see that we are still evolving.
To base all of your beliefs on a book that was created over 2000 years ago is unthinkable in this day and age of scientific discovery. The Bible was created by man on what they thought God would believe. They did not have the scientific evidence that we have today, therefore they explained creation in a way that appeared to be logical to them. If you dig deeper into the Bible, you will find that it creates more questions than answers.

Answer 8

They are based on a thorough understanding of modern biology.
This isn't something that can be understood in sound bites or in a few popular lectures geared towards a lowest common denominator.

There is no such thing as an "evolutionist". Evolution is a powerful theory that is an intrinsic part if the science of biology. It does not exist in isolation as a discipline. Biologists accept evolution based on science. Period.

Answer 9

I saw an absolutely fascinating programme on British TV showing how embryo mammals develop in the mothers womb. They showed an elephant, a dog and a dolphin. It is thought that the dolphin, like all the cetaceans , evolved from land mammals. The film of the developing dolphin embryo was a "Creationists worst nightmare!" The embryo actually develops a rat like tail, 4 little embryo legs and its nostrils are on the front of its nose, just like a land mammal. Then as it progresses, The buds that would have formed into back legs on a land mammal become re-absorbed into the body. The front legs become more and more flipper shaped. the tail loses its whip- like appearance and turns into the familiar "fluke" that all whales have. The nostrils migrate to the top of the head, and merge to become one "blow hole". In a way,the developing embryo seems to 'betray' it's land living ancestry. Why would a "created" sea creature show such peculiar foetal development?

Answer 10

People do not base their beliefs in evolution. Evolution a natural result of a belief system that includes critical reasoning and investigation.