"Evolution is a theory. There is nothing to support it. No facts."?

Question

We here this alot. Would everyone be willing to explain what a theory actually IS and site proof for people?

By the way I believe in evolution. I just have to laugh at people who actually say this. I thought we could give them a nice compulation for reference

Awww pissdownsatans back got mad. It's called a typo. It happens

Answer 1

A theory is a well established and tested way of describing the mechanism for things that we observe in the world. Other examples are Relativity and Gravity. Note: NO AMOUNT OF EVIDENCE can move a theory to a scientific law.

And there is a ton of evidence. I put this list together myself a few weeks ago:

* Fossils - the order can be determined by stratification alone (no radiological dating) it is unarguable and life started simple and got more complex. Here is a simple chart to show what I mean: http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/fossils/succession.html
* Circular species. Meaning that it geographically evolved in two geographic directions with interbreeding possible between all steps but not the two ends. The two ends are actually separate species. Example: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/05/2/l_052_05.html
* Mitochondrial DNA regressive studies. - This comes only from your mother and the only changes to it are through mutations. These mutations occur at a known rate, and converge world wide 150,000 years ago give or take. If Eve (6000 years ago) was the only female, it would be almost identical world wide. It is not. The flood gives a second bottleneck that matches the facts even less well.
* Geographic distribution of related species. Meaning related species are usually near each other.
* Wisdom Teeth - there isn't room on your jaw for them anymore.
* Your little toe - totally useless. Nice intelligent design here.
* Your appendix - totally useless now but it does digest cellulose in other species.
* Your inner eyelids - They don't even work now, but they do for lots of other animals like house cats. Bet you didn't even know you had 'em.
* Vestigial DNA - meaning chromosomes that we have but don't use, but that are used in other species. We have several that other primates use but are totally useless to us.
* The fact that we share so much DNA among species
* There are no wild milk cows. They evolved through artificial selection and are totally man made.
* Different breeds of dogs, cats, livestock.
* Viruses and bacteria evolve quickly and you can actually see it. This is why you need a new flu shot every year.
* Your tail bone. It is even not that uncommon to be born with a tail.
* Goosebumps - this would be useful if we had fur because it fluffs it and makes more insulation. For us it is worthless.
* The hair standing up on your neck when you are frightened. Animals use this to make themselves look bigger. Doesn't work when you walk upright and don't have fur.
* The fact that humans have gotten measurably and heritability taller since the 1600s
* The fact that humans jaw have gotten measurably and heritability smaller since the 1600s
* The fact that humans little toes have gotten measurably and heritability smaller since the 1600s
* Human lower back problems. Your back is intelligently designed to have support from your shoulders.
* Transitional fossils - here are several lists: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_transitional_fossils

Answer 2

Evolution is just a theory? Wrong. It is not just a hunch or guess, it is a SCIENTIFIC theory, one that is supported by evidence, observation and inferences. Say I place a 6-sided dice on a table. It is numbered 1 - 6 on all the faces. However, on the table, one face is hidden from view. How would you find out what that number is without moving the dice? Well if I observe that the numbers I can see are 1,2,5,4,6, and I have evidence that 1 number is missing (6 numbered faces - one face is missing, one number is missing), then I can infer that that number must be 3. It isn't proof that it is 3, it is inferred simply because that is what the evidence and observation points to. This is a simplified view of how science works - evidence, observation, facts, principles, mathematics support inferences that lead to the formation of a theory.

A theory is the highest honour bestowed on any scientific idea - it means the majority of your peers accept and ratify it.

I cannot be asked to explain the overwhelming evidence for evolution so I will list them. Fossil records, DNA analysis, vestigial organs, multiple drug resistant bacteria, the pentadactyl limb, geographical speciation, redundant proteins, the development of the human embryo, human malarial evolution...etc etc.

Spend 6 years studying these ideas and then come back to me.

Answer 3

Well, only because you asked so nicely....

"Evolutionists have been very clear about this distinction of fact and theory from the very beginning, if only because we act) occurred. Darwin continually emphasized the difference between his two great and separate accomplishments: establishing the fact of evolution, and proposing a theory--natural selection--to explain the mechanism of evolution."

"It is time for students of the evolutionary process, especially those who have been misquoted and used by the creationists, to state clearly that evolution is a fact, not theory, and that what is at issue within biology are questions of details of the process and the relative importance of different mechanisms of evolution. It is a fact that the earth with liquid water, is more than 3.6 billion years old. It is a fact that cellular life has been around for at least half of that period and that organized multicellular life is at least 800 million years old. It is a fact that major life forms now on earth were not at all represented in the past. There were no birds or mammals 250 million years ago. It is a fact that major life forms of the past are no longer living. There used to be dinosaurs and Pithecanthropus, and there are none now. It is a fact that all living forms come from previous living forms. Therefore, all present forms of life arose from ancestral forms that were different. Birds arose from nonbirds and humans from nonhumans. No person who pretends to any understanding of the natural world can deny these facts any more than she or he can deny that the earth is round, rotates on its axis, and revolves around the sun."

Okay, a little long (really long) and it basically states that the fossils we found and the fact that life went through changes over millions of year is a fact. However, the exact way it changed (evolution) is a scientific theory.

Proof:

http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/comdesc/

29+ evidences for macroevolution

Answer 4

Google defines theory thus: a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world; an organized system of accepted knowledge that applies in a variety of circumstances to explain a specific set of phenomena; "theories can incorporate facts and laws and tested hypotheses"; "true in fact and theory."

Theories have to have some modicum of proof to even receive the name theory, otherwise they are merely a hypothesis.

An example of an unsupported hypothesis would be, "God created the earth in six days." There is no scientific data to back that up. There are only the writings of ancient nomadic tribesmen who were trying to figure out how this all began without the benefit of real knowledge.

An example of a supported hypothesis would be, "primates, including man, share a common ancestor." This is supported by fossil, genetic, and other verifiable, repeatable data and experimentation.

Answer 5

A scientific theory is a conceptualization of observable and measurable phenomenon that *must* be falsifiable. Unaccepted scientific theory is a conceptualization of observable and measurable phenomonon that is untested, hasn't been tested enough, or has been falsified. Accepted scientific theory is a conceptualization of observable and measurable phenomenon that has been subjected to a lot of independent testing, has passed that testing, and has been accepted by the scientific community.

In science, accepted theory is another word for fact. The Newton's Theory of Gravity, for example, is what we consider a "fact" to the point where no one questions is outside of the scientific community; even though Newton's theories on gravity have failed testing and are only valid on a limited scope.

Sources, while not specifically cited, contributed:
Babbie, Earl. The Practices of Social Research. 10th Ed.
Strahler & Strahler. Physical Geography, 3rd Ed.
Collins & Kaufman. Discovering the Universe.
Campbell & Loy. Humankind Emerging. 11th Ed.
Myers. Psychology. 7th Ed.
Chang. Chemistry.
Giancoli. Physics: Principles with Applications.
Campbell, Reece & Simon. Essential Biology. 2nd Ed.

There's more, but these specifically cover what theory is.

Answer 6

whoever said that there are no facts to support evolution must be very selective about what they read, since there are a lot of facts proving evolution. now it is just a theory because we can never absolutely truly prove it 100% but that does not make it false or unproven.

what facts do the creationists have? an old book written by people who thought the sun went around the earth?

a theory is a hypothesis that can be proven either right or wrong, evolution has been proven right, just not enoguh to make it a law.

relativity has been proven to a ridiculous amount but is still a theory because it doesn't take quantum effects into account and is therefore incomplete.

newton's law of gravity technically should not be a law because relativity has been proven to be more accurate than it, but newton was basically THE scientist back then and he said it was a law and so it was.

proof? our dna, we share most of our dna with a banana, why would God do that?

we share even more of our dna with chimpanzees. no we did not evolve form monkeys or apes, we evolved alongside them from a common ancestor, this is one of the biggest mistakes that creationists make. no evolutionist said we evolved from monkeys if he did, he was wrong.

look at the structure of most animals, from mice to crocodiles to lemurs to humans to cats to kangaroos, to frogs to turtles, we all have the same basic structure even many of the same proportions.

for example your wrists are the same length as your feet.. go ahead, check it out, its true. if you have a cat or dog pick it up, they have that same proportion (remember a cat or dog's foot isn't just the pads at the end, it goes all the way up to their ankle which many mistake for a knee, but the knee is further up and the wrist ends before the pads at the end)

how many fossil records should i cite? radio carbon dating (and other radioactive isotopes i know carbon can only go back so far, but other elements are not so limited). stratigraphy in the crust, different layers laid down at different times.

what proof does creationism have again? some fossil footprints that have been shown to be fake? and some guy figuring out how many generations of people ahve existed since adam?

wow accuracy.

everyone is free to have their opinion, but don't lie just to try to make your religion sound scientific.

any person that starts off with a theory and then sets out to prove that theory is not being scientific. these people tend to only look at the "facts" that support their theory and ignore everything else. (any conspiracy site has tons of examples of these sadly).

Answer 7

Evolution is both theory and fact.


A theory is a bunch of thought explaining facts. For instance, gravity is a theory explaining why things fall. Evolution is a theory explaining why one population evolved into another over time. This theory can change, since people debate (sometimes fiercely) what sorts of pressures can have relatively strong or weak effects of the evolution of a population. For instance, how important is kin selection, or group selection. Also, how uniform is the rate of change of populations (not very = punctuated equilibrium, Gould's idea).

Answer 8

I think you are the one that is confused, a theory is just that a theory, no matter how many people you get to believe in it. You should be careful what argument you use, if theories are proven by lots of people just believing, then some would apply the same argument to their religious beliefs. Theory and hypothesis are the same in at least one way: neither are fact. Sorry. Pagan Pantheist

Answer 9

There is a huge volume of evidence that supports the Theory of Evolution. If you are a person who pushes the fiction that there is no evidence I challenge you to go to the library and look it up... but I know you won't.

Evolution is a theory that says that species change and become new species, mainly through natural selection. There are thousands of examples of this happening.

Answer 10

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