Wouldn't the theory of evolution be the easiest of theories to prove fact?

Question

It only takes two documented examples of something to prove a theory fact doesn't it?

I've seen fossils of basically everything that has lived on this planet, why can't they find two examples of anything to prove evolution?

Either someones screwing around or this theory will forever remain just that.

Answer 1

Evolution -is- fact. The "theory" surrounds exactly how it takes place.

Answer 2

It is both a fact and theory. FACT: the PROCESS of evolution - the genetically based change in a population's traits over time. This can be observed in nature (e.g. bird beak or feather lengths, body size), laboratories (e.g. antibiotic resistance), agriculture (e.g. selecting for traits that enable crops to resist disease better), etc. THEORY: the explanation of HOW that process occurs in nature. In science, a theory doesn't mean 'hypothesis' or 'guess' and the term doesn't suggest a lack of certainty. Instead, a scientific theory is an organized set of related ideas. Theories are either accepted or not, in which case you'd present an alternative testable hypothesis (which can be falsified). An alternative that is based on a belief system is not a testable hypothesis, and is NOT science. So is evolution a valid scientific theory? Yes, it meets all the criteria, and is supported by mountains of evidence from numerous areas, such as the fossil record, comparative anatomy, comparative embryology, and the molecular record - which is why the theory of evolution is accepted by the vast majority of scientists.

Answer 3

Evolution has a major draw back. It is next to impossible to duplicate an evolutionary example. It is even less likely that two, one male and one female, would be produced at the same time to allow for breeding of the new species. The very few times in modern history that this has happened the off spring are either infertile or die before maturation/age of reproduction. Example: Cross a horse with a donkey and you get an infertile mule for an offspring. Currently a Nobel prize has been awarded for a laboratory produced frog with clear transparent skin which can be used for study purposes. It could never survive outside the lab. A male and female were produced that were able to breed and reproduce. The offspring (F2 generation) also mated and reproduced but the offspring all died almost immediately after birth. This is how the theories of evolution work and why they will never be proven in my not so humble opinion. When we mess with DNA across species and with cloning we also have drawbacks. Look at what happened with the clone of Dolly the sheep. The process of mutation in any species has always been to a deformed, still born or lesser quality individual within a species. Mutation has not once produced a superior individual in any species known to mankind.

Answer 4

Evolution is a fact.

The Theory part wasn't that evolution is a theoretical hypothesis, but a hypothesis about how evolution proceeds.

In the 1840's Church Deacon Charles Darwin and the others who proposed the theory of evolution were working with what they knew or could observe at the time.

We have learned a lot since then, so it is understandable that the theory of the process would change as our understanding changes. And the theory will itself will continue to evolve as our understanding increases.

Who knew simple clay deposits played such an important role in the process of forming the first life from basic chemical building blocks? You'll have to search around for an explaination of that comment.

It hasn't been all that long since DNA and genes were discovered. After 56 or so years we are on the verge of being able to create artificial life from scratch in the laboratory (expect this to hit the news in the next few months, according to a recent press release from the company involved in doing this.)

Life is evolving as we speak and will continue to do so after we are long silent: Where did the recently discovered strains of Avian Flue come from? How did the HIV virus change so that it jumped species in the 1950's?
The new strain of tuberculosis and other multi-drug resistant bacteria are proof of evolution (how come nobody points that out?)
Why do Chihuahua dogs no longer look like Arctic wolves? I'd say evolution has something to do with that, wouldn't you?

The forces with our society who try to deny that evolution is a fact are fighting a losing battle. This is why they have come up with the psuedo-rational "Intelligent Design" approach.
As a comparison, the existence of gravity is a fact. But try as you might, you won't find one person on this planet who can tell you how it works. Does that mean that gravity is only theoretical?

See this wiki for more:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wedge_strategy

Answer 5

"It only takes two documented examples of something to prove a theory fact doesn't it?"

i have no idea where you heard this, but it is not the case. theories are "proven" in the sense that they are tried and tested. this is not the same meaning as mathematical proof. theories don't graduate to being facts (or "laws") at any point. the ultimate fate of all scientific theories is to be discarded in favour of a better theory, and this is right and good. but the new theory still has to explain all the same facts that the old theory explained, so i don't think you'll see evolution overturned in favour of creationism, because creationism explains nothing.

"I've seen fossils of basically everything that has lived on this planet"

i sincerely doubt this. you would not have had time to look at millions of fossils.

"Either someones screwing around"

it's you!

Answer 6

A theory never becomes a fact. They are two different aspects of science. Theories are ideas or sets of ideas, often mathematical, used to explain the presently known facts and to make predictions about facts that may be found in the future. That species change, or evolve, over time, is an empirical fact. The fossil record and the connection of all living things (DNA) are empirical facts. The explanations for all of these data are theories.

Answer 7

* Evolution is every much a fact as the theory of gravity.
* Over 99.8% of scientists in relevant fields accept evolution.
* There are no alternative scientific theories.
* There is a huge amount of evidence in support of evolution...
* And zero evidence against it.
* The 'discussion' is actually educated people trying to educate others.
* The more intelligent a person is, the more likely they are to understand and accept evolution.
* The "discussion" only happens in backward places like Turkey and parts of the united states.

Here, these two sites provide a good starting point - but you have to WANT TO LEARN.


http://evolution.berkeley.edu/
http://www.talkorigins.org/

Answer 8

Evolution is both a fact and a theory. The theory explains the fact.

Answer 9

you statement is incorrect. You have not seen fossils of nearly everything that has ever lived on this earth. Even if you seen every fossil that exists to day you still would have only seen a minute portion of the different kinds of animals God created.

Evolution is proven when defined as a change in allele frequency over time. That however does NOTHING to explain how it rained on a rock and a few million years later a person popped up

Answer 10

There are no scientific absolute facts, that's why gravity is a just a theory.


It only takes two documented examples of something to prove a theory fact doesn't it?

No. You have evidence, you make a hypothesis of what it means, test it, find the results, find out if that supports your original hypothesis...so and so forth...
Evolution has been tested thousands of times and all the results support evolution. Evolution has been massively corroborated and never refuted. That's why evolution is a SCIENTIFIC theory and evolution is treated as a 'scientific' fact among the people studying it.

Answer 11

by definition scientific theories are never proven. they are explanations of facts. the supporting facts may be proven over and over again, but the theory itself is never proven by definition.

just to be clear, a scientific theory is not the same as the common usage of the word, which generally means a guess.