Evolutionist?

Question

just curious..........does not everyone realize that evolution is a "theory" and that theory does not equal to fact?
I am not being rude, I just really wonder if there will be some intellectual responses and if we could discuss it as such.

johnny and others another question.

My sisters class was asked to write a paper in class, my sister wrote on creation, and another student on evolution......both papers were equally well written. and my sister was a straight A student who went on to get her Dr. degree in teaching. anyway the teacher gave her an F while he gave the other student an A. When she asked him why........his response was creation is just a theory...........she said well with all due respect sir evolution is also a theory......do you agree or disagree that both papers should have been graded equally based upon how well they were written as appossed to a point of view on the matters?

thanks for your honest opinions

it was an english class which was her major and inspite of the bad grade from the professor she still has her Doctorates degree so all ended just fine..........and thank you all again for your honest opinions

riotgirl , while I do not believe in the theory of evolution......I find your answer very logical and thank you for helping me look at it from another point of view.........smile

Answer 1

All ideas on the origin of life are in fact theory. To try to prove or disprove any one is pointless. It is a matter of personal belief. I choose to believe that life was created by a creative intelligence, that I choose to call God. I believe that his creation has evolved over millions of years to become what it is today. Although this is contrary to what is presented in biblical text, it is in line with creation theory. I think there is too much scientific evidence to support creation theory to ignore it. The bible is a great book that has served to answer many questions over the ages. It is certainly a great framework for a moral civilization. Is it scientifically accurate? I think not. Do I have a problem with people that believe it is? No. I think the only fact is this; "God is everything or else He is nothing". It is your choice. It is however very difficult to look into the clear night sky and think all of this Universe and everything in it came from nowhere, was created by no one, and is going nowhere.

Answer 2

Well if you knew anything about what a scientific theory is it would be possible to discuss it with you, but as yiu appear to know little about it, suggest you read up on it.

There is also gravitational theory and electrical theory, so by your logic, gravity and electricity are not facts ??


In science, a theory is a mathematical or logical explanation, or a testable model of the manner of interaction of a set of natural phenomena, capable of predicting future occurrences or observations of the same kind, and capable of being tested through experiment or otherwise falsified through empirical observation. It follows from this that for scientists "theory" and "fact" do not necessarily stand in opposition. For example, it is a fact that an apple dropped on earth has been observed to fall towards the center of the planet, and a theory which explains why the apple behaves so is the general theory of relativity.

Answer 3

look up the difference between a general theory and a scientific theory.

edit: alright-i'll give it to you. the dictionary definition of "theory:"

"Theories are used in non-technical contexts to mean an untested idea or opinion; they are conjectures or speculations. A theory in technical use is a more or less verified or established explanation accounting for known facts or phenomena (ex: the theory of relativity, the theory of evolution)."

so, basically, what this means is that in technical use (like science), a "theory" is pretty much fact.

another edit: sorry, but i agree with the teacher--creationism and evolution are two completely different types of theories. creationism falls under the fist type of theory (non-technical) making it conjecture or speculation, not a tested technical theory like evolution. now, i don't know that he should have given her an F, exactly. it depends on what the paper assignment was. if it was "write a paper on a scientific theory," yes she failed to complete the assignment. but if it was some other topic, she may not have deserved that F. it also depends on what the class was. was it a science class? because if so, she flat-out deserved the F.

another edit: if it was an english class, then i don't see the problem unless it was a very very specific assignment. then again, i dont' see why evolution and creationism are topics to write about in an english class.

Answer 4

Evolution is both a theory and a fact: http://talkorigins.org/faqs/faq-misconceptions.html#proof

As for your other question: If it is an English class, then it should not matter what the subject is so long as the piece is well-written. If the class is a science class, then there is a small techinical problem. Creationism is not a "theory" at all, but an assertion made soley on a religious basis. It doesn't even qualify as a hypothisis since it is not even vaguely testable or verifiable.

Answer 5

Evolution is a theory and Creationism is not. Theories can be tested and ideas cannot be tested. As for the Essay, im sorry to hear that. I personaly dont like writing classes myself because they dont grade on creativity, plus essays cant be graded as precisley as math tests. I bet if your sister took her essay to 10 different teachers she would get different grades as well, not to mention a teacher who has a common belief. Same thing can happen to the paper writen on evolution if it was graded by a teacher who believed in creation.

Answer 6

Gravity is "just a theory" too.

"Theory", as used in science, does NOT mean "something we think might be true, but maybe not".

A theory in science is based on evidence, and evolution has a preponderous amount of evidence to support it.

Edit - In response to your added details...

I'd have to know which class the paper was for, and the exact details of the assignment - but I can't imagine two students writing about creationism and evolution in a class other than science.

If she did write her paper for a science class, then yes, I'd agree with the teacher's grade. Creation is not science.

As for the teacher's use of the word "theory"... "theory", if you look it up in a dictionary, does mean "conjecture", or "speculation".

However, as I'm sure you already know, words can have more than one meaning...

In the scientific context, "theory", as I said, does not mean "conjecture" or "speculation".

So, the teacher could very well have been correct in his or her use of the word if by saying creationism is a theory, he was using theory to mean "conjecture" or "speculation". I would recommend he avoid confusion by using different wording in the future, however.

Creationism is a "theory" in the sense of the "speculation/conjecture" definition.

Evolution is a "theory" in the sense of the scientific definition.

Hope that clears it up. If you still have questions, there are plenty of sites that explain scientific method.

Answer 7

The theory of gravity is a theory too... and magnetism... and electricity...

In science, the word "theory" is not the same as in common usage. It has special qualifications that are implied, such as repeated testing to show a reliable pattern that can be repeated over and over. Thus, in science, the word "theory" carries a LOT more weight and has VERY specific and special meanings not found in the common language. And if you are implying that evolution is "only a theory", then so is gravity, magnetism, electricity... evolution is VERY real - denying that it isn't true isn't the same thing as PROVING that it isn't true.

Answer 8

I recognize that it is a "theory." And not a very good one, in my opinion. I sure wish they would teach it as a theory in the schools instead of jamming it down our kids' throats as "fact." I really think they should teach both creation and evolution as theories and let kids decide for themselves which to believe.

I think there is scientific evidence to support creation as well, so we're basically leaving out a whole realm of science just because it overlaps theology. We're depriving our children of a good education when our fear of pissing off the atheists causes us to ignore something that just might be true and explain a heck of a lot about our universe.

Answer 9

Absolutely right. It's a theory with evidence.

Until we invent a time machine it can't be proved one way or another.

However, it has a lot more going for it than a few scribblings in a book written ages ago which many people accept as fact.

Answer 10

Evolution is a SCIENTIFIC THEORY. Look up the term. It obviously doesn't mean what you think it means.