Someone told me something. Can you help?

Question

They said evolution was proven wrong. That's not true right? Evolution is fact, isn't it?

Answer 1

Evolution is fact.

The anti-evolutionists are getting wound up about finding a possible function of the appendix and claiming that a functional appendix proves that vestigial features don't exist ... therefore, proving that evolution itself doesn't exist. No vestigial features? Why do I get goosebumps, then. I have practically no hair on my arms, so goosebumps aren't going to stand my hair up and keep me warmer like it did my hairy ancestors. But I still have goosebumps.

If there's one thing scientists agree upon, it's that scientific ideas change in the face of new evidence. That's a giant difference between science and religion. And it's one of the basic tenets of scientific thinking.

Answer 2

That depends a little by what you mean when you say some of those things.

Think of it this way: Einstein proved that Newton's laws of motion are wrong. But we still USE Newton's laws of motion except in certain specific situations because Einstein's variations make no difference most of the time.

In the same way, Darwin's theory of evolution has been proven wrong any number of times. But the thing about science is that it adapts - good ideas are kept and bad ones are modified and discarded. The current conception of evolution is still similar to Darwin's in many respects, but has been improved many, many times along the way.

Nor would it be fair to say that there are no problems still to be worked out. There are still things that are hard to explain. But 99.9% of biologists still think evolution is the best way to try and explain them.

'Fact', when used by scientists, would tend to mean a measurement or piece of data rather than how we explain such measurements. Evolution is 'just' a theory, but like many other theories in science, it is pinned down with SO many facts that few biologists can even imagine something with equal explanatory power. Any changes we are likely to see in the future will probably be small tweaks rather than huge ones.

We'll just have to see.

Answer 3

They are incorrect. Evolution can be regarded as the unifying theory of biology and is supported by mountains of evidence. Evolutionary theory is overwhelmingly accepted by scientists worldwide. Criticism typically comes from individuals who hold particular religious views in esteem or have a poor grasp of evolutionary theory.

Be careful of your use of the word 'fact.' See this link for what a fact versus a scientific theory is (http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/evolution-fact.html).