How many people who believe evolution is true actually leaned something about it without books or teachers?

Question

Actually seen it with your own eyes, what do I look for

Answer 1

Just to go a little further on the flu shot analogy. Every year the flu shot varies because the flu virus evolves and mutates to more virulent forms ro forms with different mechanisms for spreading.

Surely you've heard of superbugs that evolve to developa resistence to standard antibiotics. That is a form of evolution. Here is an extract from a web page on MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus):

Why does MRSA exist?

It's all about survival of the fittest - the basic principle of evolution, and bacteria have been around a lot longer than us, so they're pretty good at it.

There are countless different strains of a single type of bacteria, and each has subtle natural genetic mutations which make it different from the other.

In addition, bacterial genes are constantly mutating.

Some strains' genetic makeup will give them a slight advantage when it comes to fighting off antibiotic attack.

So when weaker strains encounter antibiotics, they die, while these naturally resistant strains may prove harder to kill.

This means that next time you encounter Staph, it is more likely to be one which has survived an antibiotic encounter, i.e. a resistant one.

The advice from doctors who give you antibiotics is always to finish the entire course - advice which many of us ignore.

When you don't finish the course, there's a chance that you'll kill most of the bugs, but not all of them - and the ones that survive are of course likely to be those that are most resistant to antibiotics.

Over time, the bulk of the Staph strains will carry resistance genes, and further mutations may only add to their survival ability.

Strains that manage to carry two or three resistance genes will have extraordinary powers of resistance to antibiotics.

The reason that hospitals seem to be hotbeds for resistant MRSA is because so many different strains are being thrown together with so many doses of antibiotics, vastly accelerating this natural selection process.
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Doctors are dealing with these types of mutations (evolution) on a daily basis. If, 70 years after widespread use of penecilin, bacteria evolve to be immune to it, why can't you accept higher order animals evolving over millions of years.

Answer 2

Well, you could watch it if you had access to a series of sonograms of a pregnant woman. Ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny, you know. In other words, the development of the fetus mimics the development of the species from a single cell organism to an aquatic, then mammalian, then primate form. Evolution is merely the birth process on a planetary scale, which is why I don't understand the Christian objection to the theory. Why can't the mode of creation BE evolution? There doesn't have to be conflict unless you're a legalist, and I don't see how anyone can justify that position knowing the history of the development of the bible.

Also - can you name something you learned without books or teachers? Even Christianity is learned from a book, accuracy notwithstanding.

Answer 3

Evolution isn't religious dogma. We HAVE learned everything about it through observing the physical world. Not just in paleontology, but genetics, geology, and other branches of science.

>>Actually seen it with your own eyes, what do I look for

This is like trying to witness a new genre of music forming.
What you DON'T look for is a cow directly giving birth to a horse, or a single gorilla gradually becoming a human as it ages. That's not at all how evolution works. Read this for some examples:
http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/faq-misconceptions.html

Answer 4

Well, if you never were taught by people or by books about Jesus, would you ever come up with it yourself? Some prior authorities told you about it right? Would you have come up with the Pythagorean theorem on your own? No? Someone told you that one too eh?

We can trust authorities, provided that they are good authorities. Scientists, using the scientific method, are good authorities and they have an amazing track record as a group. Religious leaders are poor authorities and have a terrible track record as a group (Zeus hurls lightning, Sacrifice a goat to Neptune so our ship won't sink, Blow up infidels and get virgins in heaven, the earth is the center of the universe etc; )

You can't prove everything with your 'own eyes' but you can appeal to good authorities who make evidence based findings who are always trying to refine and correct their theories.

Answer 5

Your question indicates you understand nothing about evolution, so I see no reason to answer.

However, I shall. It's not just paeleontology, which is indeed an important scientific discipline.

Understanding evolution requires reading. Much reading. It's not an easy subject but it sure is fascinating. Some things are obvious, such as our relation to other apes. Queen Victoria was so disturbed by the human-type eyes of gorillas in the London Zoo she ordered them removed.

DNA, RNA, mitochondrial DNA, now we are into genetics.

Then there is organic chemistry, molecular biology, biochemistry, cellular biology and many other disicplines.

Evolution is a fact. More data arrives in its support daily.

Answer 6

I think I know what you are getting at.
You might want to look at domestic animals, different types of dogs and cats. different farm animals and domestic plants raised for food.
Most of what you will see is variation but still within species.
In apples, corn, sheep and some of the poultry you can see new species that have been created by selection.
One of the things to keep in mind is it is not appearance that separates species. It is the ability to reproduce with each other.
Many apple varieties are separated by the times they flower and release pollen. Many strains of corn are not cross fertile. and
The first step towards creating a species is the development of a strain or race of it that breeds true with itself.
Then comes the genetic separation of that strain from the rest of the species by the variations in its genetics preventing it from breeding with related varieties of the specie.
It could be that it is to far apart in size, that it has a different breeding time or it could be that its actual genes to not match well enough to create a viable embryo.

Now the thing about food crops and domestic animals is that wee have records of the sources of what we have now and in the case of plants we often have the origional as well as the varieties that have spun of into serarate species. I mentioned apples but Brassicas are another very excellent example.
We can grow beets, turnips, cabbage and mustard all side by side with no fear at all of them crossing. Yet we know they were all bred over time from one type of wild mustard greens.

Answer 7

it's hard for amateurs to get very far into, because the things being looked at (genes) are a bit obscure. you can't just throw rocks around like you can with gravity, to observe evolution properly you need instruments, and instruction in how to use them. i haven't done this personally, i don't feel the need. i have no reason to doubt the conclusions of thousands of scientists.

Answer 8

Okay here's how I became an atheist. It wasn't from a book, or teacher. It came from me, church and the bible were so ridiculous to me. I was 12 when I started questioning religion. By the time I was 13, I realized this was made up by men to control the masses.

Answer 9

Evolution is a long process, taking millenia to bring about its results. It is possible to observe genetics in action, however. Numerous experiments involving plants and fruit flies, for example, have been conducted and duplicated.

Answer 10

Look at your father and mother.

You will see you have many traits in common with them, but a few will be wholly unique to yourself.



That is evolution. You are different than your parents.