Do people believe in Evolution because they want to be accepted in this society?

Question

I was wondering if Evolution is something that rather than making any sense or having any evidence, it is a belief that put a person in a position of acceptance.

Not believing in Evolution might make a person feel ignorant or dumb, or unintelligent.

Do most students believe in Evolution just to be accepted by their colleges?

Answer 1

People mostly believe in evolution because it DOES, in fact have an awful lot of evidence supporting it. It also makes far more sense then most of the alternative theories. Like most very large scientific theories, there are parts of it that are still to be verified, or may never be verified, or may have to be changed due to new evidence. The basic theory is very sound and closely follows observable reality.

A person who doesn't actually understand the theory of evolution might pretend to, if he or she thought it might create a positive image. It's possible. I don't think it happens too often, though.

I think rational people tend to support evolution. We don't "believe" in it, in the same sense that a religious person believes in creationism, because the principal of science requires one to reserve at least a small amount of doubt. Rather, we accept it as the most probable scenario. The theory can be changed in whole, or in part as new information is gathered. It has, in fact, changed many times over the years, both in broad outline and in fine detail.

In short: Evolution is fluid and dynamic. It's based on observable reality. Creationism is dogmatic and fixed. It's based on a denial of observable reality. A person who pretends to accept evolution as "truth" isn't really participating in the debate.

Answer 2

No. They believe it because there's tens of thousands of scientists all over the world that accept it as fact, and they have no reason to lie. Creationists like to make it seem like science has some huge agenda, but it's not true. The very nature of science means that scientists MUST admit when something isn't right. There's astronomical evidence supporting evolution.
Science is highly competitive and because it's theories are by definition open to challenge, science is also self-correcting. Any biologist who could disprove the theory of evolution would instantly become famous, possibly a Nobel laureate, and probably very wealthy.
Most students are going to take the word of the tens of thousands of scientists over the word of some fundamentalist Christians (with no knowledge of science) who treat a book written over 2000 years ago by people (also with no knowledge of science) as if it's scientific fact.

Answer 3

No, I don't think it is the acceptance, I think it is because of the evidence and because it makes sense.

"Not believing in Evolution might make a person feel ignorant or dumb, or unintelligent."

In many cases, people who don't believe in evolution are ignorant or unintelligent when it comes to science and evolution.

Answer 4

People believe in evolution given the evidence.

Answer 5

No, and I'm basing this on semantics:
If people "believe" in something just to be accepted, then they don't actually "believe" - they are PRETENDING to believe. See the difference? If someone believes in evolution, they do so based on the fossil records, the dirt matrix, the genetic evidence and features/artifacts that have been found. People may profess to believe in evolution to avoid conflict, but a believer is a believer, just like people may profess a belief in Christ to avoid ostracization, but don't "believe" in Jesus to avoid ostracization. Hope that helps?

Answer 6

So you don't believe that humans evolved from apes? (Which not only makes sense, but has substantial evidence backing that theory, by the way.)

I wasn't aware that believing in evolution was the latest craze amongst kids these days. I'm way out of the loop!

Personally, I'm not a sheep, and have always used my brain & drawn my own conclusions rathar than following ANY crowd!

Answer 7

Not believing in evolution means that you reject scientific evidence collected, colated,debated, probed, argued, tested etc in favour presumably of some at best allegorical scripture with no basis in fact.
Then you truly are ignorant, dumb and unintelligent. Sorry to be so blunt but it's for your own good!
Reject this lunatic religious dogma and think for yourself for once! How else are you going to get anything out of college if you enter it with a closed mind?

Answer 8

Evolution is not a belief. It is an investigated process.

I am certain that some people don't follow the processes and just nod their heads. It is very difficult to eliminate ontological reasoning. I catch myself anthropomorphizing the process on occasion. I often need to rephrase things if I want to follow strict reasoning. That said, most students get the gist, even if they are fuzzy on the details.

Answer 9

One does not have to believe in Evolution in order to be accepted by colleges... but one might have to be knowledgeable about it in order to answer say Science questions that are asked ... and you have to pass.. in order to get into college.

one should not ever feel dumb etc....because of not believing in evolution or anything else that others may believe in .. ..
....at one time in our history it was not only believed .. but accepted as fact .. that the Earth was FLAT .. and those that did not accept this or believe it were considered not only dumb/ ignorant/ or unintelligent but heretics as well .. and could face much abuse because of their beliefs ( that the earth may not be flat and may even be round .. now proven to be true !! - or is that actually oval-ish ...)

Evolution is a theory that accommadates many of the facts that have been uncovered so far .. and seems to offer the best fit to those facts so far...
but who is to say .. that future evidence .. future facts that remain to be discovered .. will not turn upside down the Theory of Evolution .. as once .. the Theory of the Flat Earth was once debunked..

one should keep an open mind as to Evolution and the main question at the heart of this .... " where did we come from ?"

evolution is an attempt at this ..........
divine intervention or GOD is another ???
.. is that sacreligious .. to consider the reality of GOD as an attempt by MAN to explain his BEING.. !!

in closing I would again advise one to keep an open mind at all times on such questions .. but to continue to explore the nature of the problem .. because this is one activity that defines man (and differs him from the other animal species) .. his inane curiousity about all things in nature.. on Earth and elsewhere...

one could say that Evolution or the belief in God are both something that rather than making any sense or having any evidence ( as in total and irrefutable) , are beliefs that puts a person in a position of acceptance ( to whichever body they may want to be accepted by )....

of course let us be totally open minded and realise that even though i have mentioned only God and Evolution as to addressing the question they both strain to confront ..
we may even postulate many other situations ..
maybe humankind and all life on earth was " planted " here by an alien force ( of course we then have to ponder what created them there doggone aliens in the first place - shucks !! )
and maybe there is no evolution or God or aliens .. just plain old blind nature going about its business over the billenia .. without a care or whim for that puny thing that arose along the way .. life .....

the bottom line may be we will never know ( in our lifetimes at least ??? ) ..

in that case why not keep an open mind .. be aware of all the theories and beliefs and MOST IMPORTANTLY .. let each and everyone of us belief as we may as long as we do not try to impose our way or belief on another..
live and let live ...
does there have to be an .. its my way or the highway approach to this ............
an .....either your with us or you are against us .......
can we allow a person of another persuasion or belief or religion to be and do as they would like
do we all have to eat the very same cornflakes
like the same movie
or scent
or food ...

let us accept first the right to be as we are ....

Answer 10

No, I think that's being much too simplistic. Your question is about the social psychology of attitudes and persuasion. It's a combination of what your worldview is, what you think of the people who present the information to you, the merits of the arguments, and a lot of other factors.

Your suggestion is that people accept an idea because it is socially useful (or functional). This is true, and is probably a part of it, but not the only part.