How do you know that Darwin's theory of evolution is true?

Question

I hope evolution is true because if it is, then the Bible isn't literally true and maybe God won't let people burn eternally because someone stole a bit of fruit six thousand years ago (unless they accept the torture and death of his only son as their personal savior). But how can I convince my fundamentalist friends? Short answers please!

Answer 1

You have no way of proving that evolution is true, that's why it is called a theory. And no matter what, you are never going to convince fundamentalists of anything because they have faith. It isn't subject to rational debate or discussion so don't waste your time trying.

The real question is what you believe and that is going to be what you want to believe. I don't think we can know something like that. I wasn't here for the dinosaurs but have held a fossil. Some book is telling me that's all false? I have a hard time accepting that without more proof than any religion has ever presented. The circular argument of religion isn't very convincing.

Answer 2

I have used this answer before, but it is relevant to you.

Did you ever wonder why lions and a pet cat look very similar to each other? Or why the Dodo bird was flightless, seemingly just waiting for man to come to their island and hunt them to extinction? Why do humans and chimpanzees share about 98% of their DNA? Or 92% with mouse DNA?
It is ignorance to accept that these things were just put there.
Evolution is the only theory which explains the differences and similarities between all species of life on Earth. It is one of the most robust, yet elegant, theories to be put forward.
It is supported by many branches of science, in fact, I cannot think of a branch of science which can be used to reject it. The main objections to it are faith based and are not scientific.
People seem to be insulted that they can be related to other forms of life. Why? Because then it would challenge their beliefs that they were created in God's image, rather than having an ape-like ancestor as a template for humankind. It is this arrogance which keeps some people from accepting evidence.

Most mainstream churches accept evolution, I know the Catholic Church does, and guess what? Religion has not collapsed. There is room for both, evolution is about understanding, religion is about faith. See the link below about how the Catholic church has accepted that the development of the soul and the evolution of the body are separate issues.

The theory of evolution is too compelling and logical to be simply dismissed just because it carries the tag of "Theory". There are many current examples of the theory at work, including bacterial resistance to medication, locust resistance to pesticides etc.

Answer 3

Evolution is a scientific theory. This is as true as things can be in science. We do not know that the specifics of the theory are 100% true, however we do know that evolution occurs.
The best example I can offer is antibiotic-resistant bacteria. When an antibiotic is off too low a quality or quantity, it only kills the bacteria that don't have a genetic mutation making them resistant to said antibiotic. The ones that have that mutation live on, reproduce, and cause the population to become more hardy.

Answer 4

Darwin inferred evolution by natural selection by looking at the geographic distribution of species, relationships in comparative anatomy and morphology, the results of artificial selection for traits, and geological evidence for the age of the Earth. He was handicapped by the lack of knowledge of the mechanism of heredity--genetics. Now we are at a point that we are understanding the molecular basis of genetics and can determine which nucleobase replication error affected what phenotypic character when in a species history. It is the ultimate forensic proof of the evolutionary process. But this evidence will be way beyond the intellectual grasp of a fundamentalist religious fanatic. It would be like trying to explain Einstein's theory of relativity to a 3 year old.

Answer 5

The origin of life cannot be explained by a simple one line answer. This is something creationist find hard to understand, because they are used to explaining everything that exists in the world by saying "because god did it". They are immune to reasoned, rational debate and are not worth arguing with.

There is an overwhelming abundance of evidence in support of evolution, primarily in the form of the extensive fossil record. It is a fact to say that the fossil record extends back several billion years to a time when the Earth was very young, although complex multi-cellular life has existed for only a few hundred million years.

The fossil record is like a scrapbook or diary that details the life history of Planet Earth.

Answer 6

ok.
1. first you have to get over the man and monkey thing. This I find is the BIGGEST thing anti-evolutionary people have (I was once one of you too).
Evidence.
2. Fossil evidence is plentiful and there are many examples of how plants and animals have changed over time. eg horses, elephants.
If you go back in the rock evidence combined with fossil you find this: In the oldest rocks you find only bacteria, as you find progressivly younger and younger rock you find more and more complex plants and animals.
3. Human evidence. There is also a lot of this, mainly in Africa, but also later species (eg H.erectus in Asia and H neaderthensis in Europe). THe evidence goes back abotu 10mya!!! Again the fossils show how the oldest were very ape like and as you get fossils from younger and younger rock they look more "human".
4. THe bible isn't literal anyway. There are many examples where stories are made up (fabels) and now not taken seriously (remember incest etc occurs in there too)

also Darwin did not come up with the theory with evolution (it was natural selection) !!

Answer 7

It is supported by a vast amount of experimental evidence.

The bible is a tatty 2,00 year old book that even contradicts itself. The fact that some of your friends put more faith in it even that in their common sense says something about your friends. It says they are narrow minded bigots, and you will not shift their opinion because they are not rational.

I have no time at all for fundamentalists - they cause people and the world so much harm (and I have suffered personally at their hands) - so I would say move on. There are better people out there to get to know.

Answer 8

because there is prove.in the bible u just read something that someone wrote from different reasons, but there is NO proof. But in the Darwin's theory, u do have some facts. Look at the dinosaurs, how many fossils... (sorry, not really short answer...)

Answer 9

give them example in dog breeds. since there is no evidence of existence of chihuahua or german boxer in 1700. so where did they appear? were they created later? unfortunately human live not long enough to be shown in practical way that the darwin's theory works. but indeed this does not prove god's inexistence. but it's just enough to say the world is existing a lot more years that those 6000 thousand. :)

Answer 10

it is true for a given defenition of the truth. he mainly worked with research from his grandfather [useless trivia i know] but it is the scientificaly accepted way that life evolved. the way live is created in the bible dosent account for things like the dinosaurs and other extinct animals, i hope that this is of some help