Is evolution really something to "believe in"...?

Question

Or is a better question: do you UNDERSTAND evolution?

On the micro level it is no less than fact. With a little understanding in Mendelian genetics and some logic anyone can understand the basic mechanisms of evolution - mutations occur (fact), and make up the diversity in an organism Natural selection, genetic drift, and gene flow are not hard to comprehend.

When two or more groups are isolated from each other (most likely for geographical reasons), the small differences will accumulate and eventually speciation will occur. You do not need a PhD to understand this.

Some people say evolution is only a theory, and that it has no evidence. Well... theories need a mass of evidence, and evolution provides that. Whoever told them otherwise was flatout lying, or ignorant.

So, I propose that if you do not "believe in" evolution, that you either say

1. "I do not understand evolution"

or

2. "I do not want to believe in evolution"

What are your thoughts?

Answer 1

Right on.

Science does not 'prove' things. 'Proof' is for mathematicians, coin collectors and distillers of alcoholic beverages. Proof in science is applicable only in the 'negative' sense... i.e., hypotheses and theories must be 'falsifiable'. When scientists do experiments (to validate 'predicted' results), they are NOT trying to 'prove' they are RIGHT... they are trying to FIND OUT if they're WRONG. NOT being wrong simply builds confidence that one is on the right track... it 'proves' nothing.

Evolution is not a matter of 'belief'. I keep reading in here that "... evolution is just a theory... not a fact." That, as it turns out, is true... although the word 'just' is inappropriate, and misleading... and it indicates that people just don't understand what a scientific theory is; they seem to think that a theory is just an 'idea'. Nothing could be further from the truth.

In science, a theory occupies a higher stratum of importance than mere 'facts'. Theories EXPLAIN facts. The theory of evolution provides an explanatory framework for the OBSERVED FACTS that the genetic makeup of populations of organisms changes, over time (in some cases, over distance)... and that over an extended period of time (hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of generations), the accumulation of those changes can result in speciation. It explains the OBSERVED FACT of transitional species found in the fossil record.

Theories live or die on the basis of their explanatory power, predictive power and falsifiability. Theories, as an explanatory framework, allow one to make predictions which can subsequently be validated by way of experiments or future observations. That means that in order to be valid, a theory must be falsifiable... and all that it takes for a theory to be falsified is ONE INSTANCE where an experiment or future observation achieves a result that is CONTRARY to what the theory predicts.

Evolution, as it turns out, has NEVER been falsified... in nearly 150 years. Further, all findings and observations to date... in molecular biology... in genetics... in paleontology... have SOLIDIFIED the explanatory power of evolution... NEVER detracted from it.

For those that say that evolution does not account for new species... nonsense. Examples abound, both in the 'world' and in the laboratory. One of the most interesting examples, and the most enlightening, has to do with a kind of bird (plovers, if my memory is correct) that occupies adjacent habitats all the way from Siberia to Britain. Because of environmental differences in these adjacent habitats (topology, food availability, competitor species, predators, vegetation), natural selection has produced genetic differences between the populations in these adjacent habitats. Birds in adjacent habitats can still mate with each other, and produce offspring... the genetic differences are small. However, the birds from the Eastern-most reaches of Siberia CAN NOT produce offspring with those from Britain. Over the reach of MANY habitats, the accumulation of genetic differences makes them a DIFFERENT SPECIES.

Answer 2

They can't; since it is a scientific fact they can either accept or reject it. For example, nobody is going around saying they believe or disbelieve in gravity. Edit: Interior Castle: "Survival of the fittest" isn't the best way think about evolution. Darwin himself did not use the phrase in the first edition of Origin of Species. What Darwin said is that heritable variations lead to differential reproductive success. This is not circular or tautologous. It is a prediction that can be, and has been, experimentally verified.

Answer 3

Theory is what evolution is. It is not more than a theory because some scientists can debunk it and show that it is not totally right. Until evolutionist do not explain the beginning, they can not jump stuffs to evolution. ow was the moon created? What keeps the sun heating on? If there is not oxygen on universe how those that fires keep on? Scientist can make up some answers. As they do most of the time.
gs.
Scientist use the phrase "million of years" to predict or explain things. In millions of years, none of us will be here. So, they will make up some other prediction. Tell me something that scientists predicted will happen in less than 100 years. Only those who predicted global warming.

How is that in global warming some scientist say it is a fact, other say it is an imaginary thing? It is more political than veridical.

Answer 4

Absolutely right. Religion depends upon "belief" or "faith". Science depends upon observable evidence. When the evidence is as strong and consistent as it is for evolution, or for the existence of atoms, it is simply irrational to reject such voluminous evidence offhand, simply because the facts conflict with your own simplistic, unauthorized and unauthoritative personal interpretations of the Bible. Maybe it's time for an iota of humility - gee, maybe, just maybe, my personal interpretations of the Bible are not infallible after all, since they conflict not only with demonstrable natural truth, but also with the biblical interpretations of millions of other Christians.

Answer 5

true. However, those who do not want to believe spend time *educating* themselves in the misinformation put out by people like the Discovery Institute, so they are unaware that they do not understand evolution.

Answer 6

my thoughts are that evolution makes a heck of a lot more sense then some invisible man in the sky creating people. thats all I have to say about that.

Answer 7

I agree with this:

“Belief is the death of intelligence. As soon as one believes a doctrine of any sort, or assumes certitude, one stops thinking about that aspect of existence.”
Robert Anton Wilson

Answer 8

You are right on target. It is far easier to say "goddidit" than to make the effort to understand the ToE.

Answer 9

Evolution is apparant. Everything changes constantly, except one thing; everything. Can you see that?

Answer 10

Amen.