Is the Evolution still credible?

Question

From what i've read more and more people are starting you doupt the evidence for evolution.

Do you think this trend will continue?

More and more evidence for a young earth is showing up and causing discussion in the scientific community.

Is evidence for a young earth credible?

Answer 1

> "From what i've read more and more people are starting you doupt the evidence for evolution."

The question should be whether more and more SCIENTISTS are starting to doubt the evidence for evolution. And the answer is a resounding NO! The acceptance for evolution is about 97% among scientists in the U.S. and over 99% in Europe.

But among *laypeople*, the active campaigning by religious fundamentalists over the last 20 years to undermine the teaching of evolution in schools has resulted in the following (quoting from a recent study ... see source):

"The study found that over the past 20 years:
* The percentage of U.S. adults who accept evolution declined from 45 to 40 %.
* The percentage overtly rejecting evolution declined from 48 to 39 %, however.
* And the percentage of adults who were unsure increased, from 7 to 21 %".

So notice that the acceptance of evolution has dropped 5 points, while *rejection* of evolution has dropped 9 points ... so now more people *accept* evolution than *reject* it.

What has *increased*? The number of people who are *unsure*. From 7% to over 21% (!) The creationists call this "progress."

So 20 years of campaigning by creationists has not increased the number of people believing creationism (in fact this has declined). All it has done is increased the number of laypeople who are confused about *what* to think. Creationists are not offering a plausible alternative, they are just successfully creating confusion about the scientific explanation (the one accepted by the consensus of scientists) ... i.e., they are *increasing* the knowledge gap between scientists and laypeople ... the exact opposite of what science education should be about ... giving people a *basic* understanding of the current scientific theories.

Congratulations America!! *This* is what happens with fundamentalists in the schools ... the direct result of the "teach the controversy" campaign ... replacing education with confusion.

Answer 2

Yes, that's what you've read. Because you're not reading science publications - you're reading newspapers written by people who don't know anything about science.

Evolution is only more credible now than it ever was. It is confirmed by the fossil record and every fossil we find, by all the genetic evidence we have, and every other field of science, from geology to astrophysics. It happened. It's demonstratable and predictive.

There is NO evidence for a young Earth - just people who don't understand the science. The scientific community as a whole is laughing at these people, who can't present enough evidence for their theory to convince a single journal editor that they MIGHT be right.

Science works through breakthroughs. There are millions of things that could prove evolution WRONG - a cat giving birth to a dog naturally, human and dino skeletons found together - but it doesn't happen. Everything we find supports evolution.

Answer 3

You've got that backwards. More people are starting to accept evolution as credible, even some creationists.

I don't think the evidence for a young Earth can hold up to the evidence of a 4.55 billion year old Earth.

Answer 4

The details of evolution are constantly being reevaluated. We have moved from gradual evolution to stepped evolution and I'm sure this theory will be refined many more times in years to come. However, the underlying theory, that organisms costantly evolve into newer forms to suit environmental stresses is never disputed by mainstream biologists.

Answer 5

Yes.
It is the theory with most evidence of all the scientific theories we have come up with.
The young earth hypothesis is propagated by religious groups, mainly in the USA and has nothing to do with science.

Answer 6

I don't know what scientists you've been talking to. there is more evidence than ever for evolution, not against. In fact there is far more evidence for evolution, natural selection, etc. than for a "young" earth as you put it.

Answer 7

100% credible.

I have seen no evidence that is more that total nonsense suggesting the Earth is younger than about 4 billion years. That is not young.

Answer 8

There is no credible evidence for a young Earth.

None. At all.

The only people who claim that there is are crackpots with fanatic religious agendas.

Answer 9

I don't know who you are talking to but evolution is pretty much a cornerstone of biology so nobody outside of religious circles doubts it.

Answer 10

yeaah, seriously...you know that there is actually NO confirmed proof of evolution? we can't find the "links" between evolved animals. evolutionists say evolution happened to quickly 2 be able 2 create those organisms. however, theyll say eevolution is happening to slowly because we cant see anything evolving today. they contradict themselves all the time. things can adapt, but not evolve.