Evolutionist: What was the fact that made you believe in evolution.?

Question

There has to be some reason you believe in evolution. Was it just because your science teacher told you it was so?

Answer 1

I just think it's a more plausible theory than creationism.

They're both theories since nobody was there to observe it happening.

Can I ask you a similarily presumptious question? Why do you believe in Creationism? Was it just because someone said it happened?

Answer 2

Evolution, although admittedly not a 100% proven fact is the only theory which has any proven attributes.

The biblical belief of creationism has so many holes in it that it just doesn't have any credibility. However the idea that God created everything still fits in well with Evolution.

I never believed anything any teacher told me until they backed it up with facts. My beliefs are mine due to both life experience and of course what I have found to be right/true to my own satisfaction.

Answer 3

I believe in evolution like I believe in gravity. Both have theories that admirably explain the evidence we see. The Theory of Evolution is a cornerstone of modern biology and nothing in biology makes sense without it.

The predictions or evolutionary theory are supported by many other sciences including astronomy, geology, geography, genetics, physics, chemistry, etc.

Clearly, you are a religious person and likely a evangelical or fundamentalist Christian. Tell us why, among ALL the sciences that are contradicted by the Bible, is evolution singled out?

If you would prefer to place your faith in the Bible rather than on evolutionary theory and supporting sciences, may I suggest that you do without the antibiotics next time you have an infection and pray instead.

Answer 4

Perhaps the single fact that finally caused me to *reject* creationism is their purported "fact" by Young Earth creationists that the universe is 6,000 years old! That is so far beyond absurd, and conflicts with pretty much every branch of science (biology, physics, astronomy, astrophysics, paleontology, archaeology, radiometry, etc. ... it even conflicts with Einstein and the constancy of the speed of light!) that it led me to conclude that YE Creationists are positively *anti*-science. Nevertheless, I was (and still am) willing to consider that some forms of creationism (but not ID) are fully compatible with the theory of evolution.

As for evolution itself, there was no *single* fact ... it was many many different facts. Many! From fossils, to genetics, to molecular evidence, vestigial structures, homologous structures, biogeography, embryology, bacteriology, virology, the way insects become resistant to pesticides, microbes become resistant to antibiotics, etc. etc.

In other words, I didn't just "believe" it one day ... my acceptance of the theory grew the more I learned and read.

This started in grade school ... i had very, very good science teachers who gave me a good foundation into the basics of *science* (not just evolution). In other words, science not as dogma, but as something *relentlessly* self-questioning and self-critical. I learned that you NEVER just accept something in science because somone "told you it was so" ... but that you are always duty-bound to ask the teacher "why do scientists believe that?" i learned what is meant by a "theory" and that all theories are only as strong as the *evidence* ... and evolution is one of the strongest theories in the history of science ... because of the *evidence*.

i learned that the theory of Natural Selection is absolutely beautiful in its simplicity, and yet that is not the reason the vast majority (>95%) of scientists accept it ... they accept it because of the overwhelming *evidence*.

And I went to a good University. Fantastic biology professors (I would have been a bio major, except that I loved Mathematics even more). I met real scientists (real Ph.D.s who lived, ate, and breathed genetics and biochemistry).

And I read. I read a *lot*. Books by people like Stephen Jay Gould (my favorite), Richard Dawkins, Niles Elderidge, Karl Zimmer, Johnathan Miller, E.O. Wilson, but also creationists like Richard Milton, Philip E. Johnson, Kent Hovind, etc. (and yes I've spent lots of time with the Bible). And all of these just strengthened my acceptance of evolution even more.

Answer 5

I studied biology, tried to disprove evolution (at least some aspects), and failed. Despite my failure, I got an A in my molecular evolution course. Not bad for the guy who attacked the professor's and the chairman's favorite theories.

Answer 6

No, but that's one reason people believe in religion: someone told them it's so and they have no proof.

I believe in evolution due to reading the facts, comprehending what it means and using logical deduction. If you don't learn about it, you may not believe it. If you can't comprehend it, of course you'll have trouble believing it. And if you have no clue what logical deduction means, you will prefer explanations based on magic and creationism instead.

Answer 7

I mean really, would you rather believe in a talking snake and a giant woodenship that housed pair of every living animal in the world, or evolution?

Answer 8

Science is the only paradigm based on falsifiability. All religious explanations of the universe involve some "faith" element that allows way too much room for human error. Come on, let's face it, humanity's always been WRONG about just about everything.

So why not adhere to a model that updates itself instead of one that asks you to NOT THINK?

Answer 9

Miss Interped has the best answer.

Answer 10

No, I was there and I saw it happen. You were first an amoeba, then you got bored and decided to become multicellular...