Question for evolutionist?

Question

I for one have never found the theory to evolution to conflict with the belief in a higher power. I believe that God could have easily made man and woman, just as it says in the Bible, or that story in the Bible could be a symbolic tale of creation that took a million years to complete. My question is, for those who use evolution as a basis to disprove the existence of God. If there was no highwer power in control of the evolution process, why would human evolve something as counterproductive as a conscience, it as a whole holds us back, and keeps us from surviving in some instances. All animals evolve in ways that beter there existance. I can't think of an evolutionary trait that hinders a animal like a conscince does a human. Don't get me wrong, I am glad we have this hiderance, but it is funny that if we were are just animals existing why did we develop this trait.

Answer 1

First of all, I am not an evolutionary biologist. Anthropologists might be experts in human origins, but that doesn't mean they're also experts in evolutionary theory.

Second of all, there are instances in nature that can prove that animals have a conscience. Simply because a predator doesn't feel sorry for its prey doesn't mean that animals are incapable of feeling compassion.

Thirdly, I would argue that having a conscience is beneficial to our survival as a species. It goes hand in hand with our behavior as social creatures. Let me re-iterate: our survival as a SPECIES. Sometimes certain behaviors may be detrimental to the individual but will benefit the species overall.

For example, certain species of prairie dogs (name escapes me, sorry) will actually stand upright when a predatory birds fly overhead, leading an individual to become MORE likely to be caught. But why? Well, maybe it allows the rest of the family to get away from the predator. And this trait still dominates even though the individual is eaten? Yes, perhaps because they have had offspring already and the trait has been passed on. Perhaps it is a learned behavior.

Evolution is an extremely complex process. Quite frankly, it amazes me sometimes that people fail to understand that.

Answer 2

God is a conundrum to man.

Proof is in the eyes of the beholder. While I have seen no proof that specifically prevents a deity; I cannot at the same time say I have seen any proof that a deity exists either. And while the lack of evidence does not logically mean it is false.

It is my understanding that everything about the universe serves a purpose and has a reason. We have yet to figure them all out, and I doubt we shall. For as all great philosophers know; the more we know the more we don't know (want to say that is Socrates or at least Plato or Aristotle attributing it to Socrates). Take the appendix; recent studies have found a reason for this seemingly useless organ (the studies think it serves as a bacterial refuge, to quickly rebuild the needed bacteria in our digestive system.

What we call the conscience is likely an evolutionary trait meant to protect our species from ourselves. How far would we have gone if we were constantly killing each other, killing our offspring? Most animals instinctively don't do these things except under extreme conditions. Who says dogs and cats and ants don't have one? Its not like we can fluently communicate with these species. So I view the conscience as extremely useful.

So while we cannot explain everything; we cannot at the same time assume that it is all due to some all-powerful creator. Perhaps it is, perhaps it is not- perhaps we'll find out.

Answer 3

I don't think that evolution disproves God, only that we were made physically in our current and perfect form or however that goes. You could say it disproves certain views of God creating and running the Earth recently and it being the center of the Universe which is truly silly.

A conscience is partially the ability to place yourself in the mind of another. It is an advantage for an extremely social animal. It allows dominance and power to be asserted over a group where brute force alone is not possible. We became political animals. As groups fight each other, a balance needs to be reached to arrive at the best fighters. A cohesive group that actually cares about its members likely fights much harder and has more determination.

Answer 4

Evolution does not disprove the existance of any deity, nor is it meant to do so. The story of creation in the Bible is almost identical to the ancient Summerian account. These tales of creation existed when the Jews were still wandering the desert & worshiping a moon Goddess.
One can easily have faith in a God & accept the evidence proving evolution is fact. Because these creation stories were passed down via oral traditions, one has to assume a few story tellers changed things to make them more interesting as time passed. Even if a God did explain evolution to an ancient goat herder, it is probable that he wouldn't understand what he was told... or that his people would immediately roast him on the nearest campfire.

Answer 5

People that analyze this problem think that "conscience" evolves. in herd animals. A form of conscience is easy to see in the protection of babies. It is easy to see that certain restrictions of behavior benefit the survival of the family. From there it is fairly easy to see that other restrictions of behavior tend to help the survival of a species.

Easiest to see is how no restrictions of behavior may kill a species. In herd animals such behavior is punished by the group. My favorite example is that some bats will completely ostracize a bat if its behavior is peculiar enough. The tendency to be ill behaved also tends to death before reproduction.

The use of the word conscience is putting into the question an assumption that something other than simple survival explains.

Answer 6

Development of "a conscious" is a biproduct of the frontal lobe which controls concepts of personality. Bilitarialism of the brain allowed us to develop specialized, but complementary areas of the brain -- the right for abstract creativity, left for literal communicative. Therefore, it is through the specialization and complexities of the brain that the concept of "a conscious" derives.

We, as a further social creature, have developed various cultural classifications based upon our abilities -- it was not until Homo Habilis and Homo Erectus that we developed culture and turned our frontal lobe consciousness into morality and legal mandate. Thus, prior to this time, we have no evidence of a "conscious" in the world.

To state that all creatures evolve to "better" an existence is both faulty and shows an inability to understand the reality of Darwin's theory. His theory dictates that environment dictates the development of genotypes which are later expressed as a phenotype in the organism -- XX makes Male, XY makes female. Lamarckianism, which is outdated and no longer considered truth, denotes willful and bettering evolution based upon organism response to environment.

We, as a genus, did not develop our traits to further our existance. The environment (increased consumption of meat products along with larger cranial capacity) chose these traits. These traits allowed us to form cultural identities. Those cultural identities dictated morality and interpersonal communication, which thus becomes the conscious of which you speak.

Does this preclude God? No. Nothing in science says a thing bout God. God is an immeasurable concept. You are free to believe what you wish -- but science is not a belief.

Answer 7

Taking the fact of evolution into account, if there were a creator, it would have to be even more "evolved" than us (a being who created the entire universe would have to be an extremely advanced, complex being).

But then who created this entity and how would it have evolved to such complexity? This is taking into account that _evolution is necessary for the creation of a complex being_.

To add, evolution isn't classified as a belief (i.e., it isn't based on faith but observance).

Answer 8

If you throw out the bit about the 7 days, the Bible says nothing to dispel evolution. When asked if his theory of the Big Bang proved there wasn't a God, Steven Hawking disagreed. Hawking said the fact that everything had to be just right for it to take place, with the laws of physics being what they are, it shows that God really knew what he was doing.

Answer 9

A conscience is a sense that forces as to do the 'right' thing. What is right and wrong are cultural concepts as such we are not born with a conscience it is given to us by our culture/ taught by others we live with. My dog has a conscience because he does not mess in my house, I taught my dog not to mess in the house and his conscience drives him not to.

Essentially if god created conscience wouldn't we all have the same set of morals thus the same conscience driving us?

And why is the Christan's creation the right creation and not Hindu's or Romans or even the Sumerian's (one of the first civilizations)?

Answer 10

You call it a conscience, other may see it as the sub-conscience mind.That filing cabinet of your mind that you have locked away all your memories and monsters and skeletons in your closet. That part of you that only you know. Now you use that information you have locked away to keep you out of trouble.
seeya4now;)
PS. what has evolved in the last 2 or 3 thousand years. or longer? Why are things not evolving?