Once again I have to debate. I'm on the negative side this time which means I am against the statement "Charles Darwin's theory is right." If you have any ideas about a site or information I would be very thankful.
2007-02-16 02:14:41 · 8 answers · asked by M.B. 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Biology
The current state of knowledge of molecular genetics offers the ultimate forensic proof of evolution by natural selection. We not only know that evolution did take place, we now know exactly how it took place.
2007-02-16 02:25:26 · answer #1 · answered by Dendronbat Crocoduck 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Is this for a biology class or a debate class?
If for a debate class, this is a great topic to learn about the tactics and logic of debate.
If this is for biology class, then this is deplorable. Unless your teacher is very, very good at sorting out all the evidence for you at the end, and explaining why SCIENTISTS have overwhelmingly agreed with the Darwin side, this is a biology teacher trying to leave you with the impression that there is "controversy" in the scientific community about this issue. There is not. Not among scientists.
In other words, if the intended outcome of "debating" this issue in a science classroom, is to leave students hopelessly confused by the time it is over, then teaching for purposes of leaving students confused is deplorable.
At the very least, I hope you have 26 biology students representing the Natural Selection side and 1 student opposing it, because that's the approximate ratio of scientists (in the U.S.) who support/reject the theory. If you were in Europe, you would need 98 students supporting it, and 2 opposing it.
(Sorry I couldn't be more help answering your question ... it's not just that anti-evolution sites are hopelessly unscientific ... but I honestly haven't seen one that doesn't use truly underhanded debate tactics (straw-man logic, ad hominem attacks, quote mining, etc. etc.). In a debate class these would be worth knowing, but you are asking this in the Biology section.)
2007-02-16 04:04:42 · answer #2 · answered by secretsauce 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A theory is true because by definition a theory is a hypothesis that has been proven true. For example, Einstein had hypothesis about relativity and light and space and time, but it was many years before experiments proved his hypothesis correct, and none proved it incorrect. His hypothesis became the General Theory of Relativity.
Darwin "theory" is a hypothesis. There are still too many facts that don't add up. On a macro scale there are too many holes, so it's still just a hypothesis. But on a micro scale, he could very well have a theory. For example, a century ago we saw black moths surviving over white moths in sooty industrial England because the black moths were able to hide from predators better in the sooty trees and buildings, whereas white moths were easy prey. So darwin's hypothesis that some trait enables a species to survive better, "survival of the fittest" proved true. But on a bigger scale, one can only hypothesize about evolution because we can't see things prove out across millions of years.
2007-02-16 04:53:16 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, there's certainly a lot more verifiable proof that it's true than there is for the creationist's "God created the Universe in 6 days and took a break on the 7th day" insinuation.
2007-02-16 02:18:52 · answer #4 · answered by bradxschuman 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If the question is was Darwin right, there are numerous advances since Darwin.
2007-02-16 02:22:02 · answer #5 · answered by novangelis 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
a theory means that repeated experiments have produced the results that favor a certain criteria, but theories are not facts.
2007-02-16 02:18:24 · answer #6 · answered by Falcon Man 3 · 0⤊ 3⤋
Nope, I don't think that he was right. After all, he only got a c+ in Biology.
2007-02-16 02:18:01 · answer #7 · answered by Dan821 4 · 0⤊ 3⤋
no
2007-02-16 02:23:38 · answer #8 · answered by businessman 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋