How to prove evolution?

Question

I have an aunt and she doesnt believe me. She says "Why arent we evolving now then" and " Why arent monkeys evolving now?". Could anyone give me good answers to this to prove her?

Answer 1

You aunt has learned the "cartoon" version of evolution. Some people get stuck on this version very early in life, and willfully avoid ever learning what what the theory of evolution actually says. You cannot "prove" evolution to somebody who steadfastly clings to a ridiculous version of the theory. It can only seem ridiculous to her.

I blame it on two things. First, people who are so intimidated by science that they don't actuall *read* science books, they skim through the pictures. They see that silly picture of the "marching man" with a chimp on the left, turning into a stooping neanderthal, turning into a Cro-Magnon, turning into a "MODERN MAN" marching proudly off to the right. Of they see a picture of a monkey or ape skull next to a human skull, and don't actually *read* the text to learn that it is not saying that monkeys evolved into humans, but that they have certain things in common that points to a common *ancestry*.

The second thing is creationism. In this country there is an enormous effort by a small minority of very vocal, and very dishonest people, who WANT people to be confused about evolution. And so they do everything they can to sabotage it being taught accurately (or at all) in schools, and they publish books and web sites with truly WRONG explanations of evolution. Why? Because it's easier to ridicule something if you explain it in a ridiculously WRONG way.

So it will be very difficult to explain to her aunt that she long ago rejected a theory without understanding it AT ALL.

The key point she is missing can be summed up in three words: BRANCHING, BRANCHING, and BRANCHING. Life is not a long chain of organisms, one replacing the other the way the '86 Camaro is replaced by the '87, then the '88, the '89, etc.

In other words, your aunt seems to think that a monkey is an '84 Camaro, and chimps are the '87 Camaro, and humans are the 2007 Camaro.

Monkeys and apes are NOT some sort of "unevolved human". They are not some intermediate stage of human development that got frozen in time.

The monkeys and apes are NOT our descendants. They are every bit as "evolved" as we are. They are every bit as "advanced" as we are ... in the sense that they are every bit as adapted to their environment as we are for ours.

Monkeys, apes, humans all share the same ancestor (long extinct).

Life is an ever-branching TREE, not a long unbroken chain.

Answer 2

A good answer to a question like this requires a bit of reading. If you want to take a look at some of the evidence, the TalkOrigins website has a good series of articles:

http://www.talkorigins.org/origins/faqs.html
http://www.talkorigins.org/origins/faqs-evolution.html

The second link is probably easier to navigate. The amount of material on the site is daunting, but just getting through a couple articles is a good start. A few paragraphs posted here won't do the idea justice. There are some pretty good books you can read too, by authors like Richard Dawkins or Carl Zimmer.

Most people who come out against evolution don't seem to know much about the theory. One biologist noted that while almost no one claims to understand the theory of relativity, everyone seems to think they are an expert on evolution. A few of the answers already posted display the same problem - people are only acquainted with a straw man version of the theory, or emphasise the 'it's only a theory' aspect, without clearly understanding what a 'theory' means in science, as opposed to everyday life.

Finally, I agree with some earlier posts. If your aunt is objecting for firm religious reasons, you probably should just call a truce and agree to disagree. 'Debates' between creationists and evolutionists at this level tend to descend pretty quickly into hysterics, bad feelings and broken china - best not to have that in the family.

Good luck.

Answer 3

We are evolving and so are monkeys. Every miscarriage or child that dies at birth or at whatever age is a factor in the evolution of humans. There are many fatal genetic disorders that kill people off before they can procreate. Some are less obvious than others. The terminally stupid have few children. These facts are "cruel" but they eliminate the unfit, even in our society. If this sounds like eugenics, too bad.

ccguy is dead wrong. Evolution is a fact, not a theory.

jonny g and j-rod are also dead wrong. There is no mass scientific movement away from the general Darwinian theory. This is a lie promulgated by creationists to people who would not know either way. I work in science associated areas and read a lot of technical and scientific papers, most of which have something to do with biology. There aint no such movement. The other argument is puerile.

Answer 4

Proofs are left to mathematicians and wine makers. Scientific theories are never proven. They can only be falsified.

As to your aunt's "observation" that humans and monkeys are not evolving, why not ask her how she knows that? Such a statement only reflects her ignorance of the subject.

Evolution works on populations and it may require significant genetic variation for a phenotypic change to be recognizable. Nonetheless, for any mutation to become imprinted on a population requires many generations and thus, for organisms with relatively reproductive cycles, is not perceptible over the course of a single human life.

Regarding J-Rod's answer: If this is the state of biology education at UT, then I'm glad I don't live there anymore. Discriminating between adaptation and evolution is like ordering a steak but saying you don't want dinner.

It's funny that people feel competent to answer questions about biology here without even a secondary schooler's understanding of its central theory.

Answer 5

Evolution is a scientific theory, and like any other theory, is disprovable, in the same way that Newton's theory of gravity was disproved by Einstein's theory of spacetime, in relativity. When someone comes up with a way of disproving one theory, we first verify it, then modify, or abandon that previous theory. See http://www.ebonmusings.org/evolution/proven.html (evolution/proven.html) We and the monkeys are evolving, as can be seen from the many thousands of fossil specimens, and a plethora of DNA evidence, but your aunt has faith and belief, and is not amenable to reason. She has too much emotionally invested in her belief system to change now.

Answer 6

First of all, the Earth is about 4.5 billion years old, while evidence of life goes back about 3.5 billion years. Evolutionary processes are generally slow going compared to our limited time frames. Seeing large modifications in our lifetimes simply doesn't fit the theory.

In addition, for various reasons, large populations tend not to evolve quickly.

Try looking into some scientific journals for information on recent evolutionary changes. Try searches related to Sickle Cell anemia in particular.

In general, the case for evolution can be made from comparative anatomy, genetics, study of the fossil record, and in some ways simple common sense. That is, organisms that will survive are the ones that are the best adapted to survive and reproduce.


If your aunt is fundamentalist in her religious beliefs, then it may be a lost cause. No amount of evidence will ever be sufficient.

Answer 7

The simple answer is that monkeys, and humans, ARE evolving now. its a slow process that normally occurs in bursts. I.e when there is an ice age then every animal better grow fur or die. when the climate isnt changing very quickly, such as now despite global warming claims, the is little drive for evolution, but it does occur.

Look at the classic example of the colourful moths of london. colourful until london burnt so much coal that the buildings turned grey. suddenly colourful moths were easy for birds to hunt. in a very short space of time all the moths turned grey.

Answer 8

I've got a better question:

Could someone tell me why people like ccguy, jonny G, and J-Rod bother to answer questions like this when they clearly have no understanding of science or evolution? I'm serious here.

This person asked a legitimate science question and you're answering like 7-year olds who just read their very first "science" book. Go answer questions on philosophy or religion, but stay away from stuff you know nothing about.

Answer 9

Well I guess she probably doesn't believe in the Theory of continental drift either because she can't observe the continents moving NOW. It's the same with evolution by natural selection - both are slow processes taking place on the geological time scale. To deny them because we can't see them happening in real time is silly and ignorant.

Answer 10

Well, we are all evolving. Evolution happens over long periods of time.

Evolution cannot be 'proved' but there is adequate evidence that it happens, and the evidence is increasing all the time.

From a personal point of view, tell her to study the great apes. They are our closest relatives, and if you can look at a group of orang-utans for half an hour and not see uncanny similarities between them and us, then you are in denial.