Do you think that evelution actually took place,or is it just one of Charlse Darwins theories?

Question

I'm really curious and confused because my friends dont believe it.

Answer 1

Look at the fossil record. We have stromatolites (fossilized mats of bacteria) reliably dated to several billion years old. There are the ediacara, vendian creatures, and burgess shales. Multicellular organisms are 650 million years old.

The earliest amphibians bear uncanny resemblance to rhipidistian lungfish from the devonian. Acanthostega, and others. Why do all the facts from paleontology and molecular biology point towards biological evolution? If our universe is a mere 6000 years old, why can we see light from galaxies billions of light years away?

Evolution does not mean that God does not exist. It just means that creationists prefer scientific illiteracy to knowledge and understanding of the real world.

TCFW is mistaken about evolution not occurring today. Are you identical to your parents? No. Couple natural genetic drift with some selection process, and evolution becomes inevitable. We use genetic algorithms to create novel designs, just as nature does.

As for his ape/human question, that does seem quite silly. Did your parents both die the day you were born? Why should apes (with whom we share a common ancestor) have disappeared when our distant hominid ancestors made their first appearance around a million years ago? You might also ask yourself why a Creator "Ex Nihilo" would bother creating fossils of australopithecus and neandertal. Why provide evolutionists such remarkably good evidence?

Finally, concerning apes, we share a gene that fails to synthesize ascorbic acid. Only two other mammals (that I know of) have a broken GULO gene--hamsters and fruit bats. Our GULO gene is broken the same way it is broken in the old world monkeys (in the new world monkeys it still works). That fact is like a little "product of evolution" sticker. It is highly evocative of common ancestry. Why would a Creator Ex Nihilo incorporate such incredible evidence for common ancestry between men and apes? What purpose does that serve, other than to make biological evolution appear to be real, and special creation a feeble joke?

Answer 2

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Answer 3

Apart from the fact that Charles Darwin;s theory was that of natural selection ( NOT evolution...but natural selection can lead to evolution).

I remember being a young student at school and having very set ideas as to what evolution was.....we came from monkeys and Darwin said this......what I know now is vastly more and having understood what evolution and natural selection is, the evidence for it, you get an idea of why so many people accpet it.
If you take the "humans and monkey thing out ( and just otpoint out we did NOT come from monkeys) its easier to understand.

Ask yourself....if we look at rocks and fossils, where most evidence for evolution comes from ( and if they accpet dinosaurs walked the earth...as dinosaurs only exist in fossils). Why is it that the oldest rocks have the most primative forms of life...thats bacteria.....why do the younger rocks have more and more "advanced" forms of life??? Why is there phases where plants ferns, gymnopserms and now angiosperms and animals fish, reptiles and now mammals rule the earth ( when ferns ruled the earth we got coal).

We can see TRENDS and PATTERNS in the fossils ( and understanding that only a minute portion of aniamsl and plants ever make it to being a fossil, there is limited evidence BUT the evidence is quite apparent and eay to see)......we can see the beginnings of a new feature or group occuring, then later we see it becoming more common and then it dies out.......we may see new groups coming and then forming other new groups...some may continue on while others die out..............you really need to do some more research on it..do some reading, see the evidence and see why so many people accept it.

Answer 4

I'll just leave you with this.If you want to really learn,go to these web sights and read these books.After a while,you will be able to not only show your friends just how wrong they are,but see through all crappy propaganda that comes from the overly religious nuts.If you have questions,just put them in the search on the talk origins web sight and plenty of articles should appear.I've never met a person who was anti-evolution that actually knew what they were talking about.They claim they have evolution stumpers but they really don't.When i point out they are wrong,they don't admit it,they just claim persecution of some sort.Anyway,i leave this for people who ask evolution questions :These are good resources,and i'll give you some of my reccomended books that ive read and are some of the best written so far:First,go to a websight like http://evolution.berkeley.edu/ It's going to take some work but will be rewarding if you stick with it.If you want to have a little more fun,check out http://www.talkorigins.org/ or http://www.pandasthumb.org/ If you want to look into more questions answers and debate check here http://www.iidb.org/vbb/forumdisplay.php... A good book to start off with is The Selfish Gene :http://www.amazon.com/Selfish-Gene-Anniv... Also you can read ,in no particular order.The Making Of the Fittest,Climbing Mount Improbable,Genome An Autobiography Of A Species in 23 chapters,The Blind Watchmaker,The Ancestors Tale,The Mating Mind,The Red Queen http://www.amazon.com/Ancestors-Tale-Pil... A few more i thought of Deep Time : Paleobiology's Perspective ,Genetics in the Wild , Frogs, Flies, and Dandelions: Speciation--The Evolution of New Species

Answer 5

Yes I believe evolution not only took place, but is currently taking place even as I type.

In response to another poster who stated the following:
"The only problem I have with Darwin's thoery is why we don't see any of the "evolutions" still taking place. If man came from the apes, then why are there still apes in the world? Wouldn't all of them be gone since we are "evolved'? And for anyone that cares, when Darwin died, he no longer believed in evolution"

We do still see evolution taking place. Research this yourself. One starting place might be "antibiotic resistance", but this is only ONE example. Also, check out the link I put in sources.

Asking why there are still apes in the world shows an incorrect understanding of how evolution works. Many people think that the word "evolved" means that whatever evolved is superior and better in all ways and must replace whatever it evolved from--this isn't always the case, and this isn't how evolution works anyway. Furthermore, man didn't evolve from apes or monkeys according to evolutionary theory; man and apes share a common ancestor.

It is also not true that Darwin recanted on his deathbed.

Answer 6

Evolution is the best theory that's been proposed so far to explain the origin of species, and is almost universally accepted by scientists in all cultures. The only people who seem to reject the theory are those who hold religious beliefs that contradict the theory, and there may be reason to question these people's objectivity.

The theory of evolution does a good job of accounting for the relevant evidence that has been presented so far. The evidence includes fossil records suggesting that some species existed for a specific and limited period of time, while similar but not identical species existed immediately before and after. The evidence also includes genetic information.

If you find yourself questioning the theory of evolution (which is admittedly counter-intuitive to beings, like us, who are used to thinking in terms of years rather than eons), the pertinent question to ask yourself is: what theory provides a better explanation of the available evidence? In my experience, religious theories tend not to support the "gradual creation over time" story that the evidence tells. This leads me to suspect that those who reject evolution, by and large, are doing so not because they think their religious theory does a better job of accounting for the evidence, but rather because they reject the evidence that doesn't support the conclusion that they wish to be correct.

Answer 7

It is a theory not a fact or a law. There is more evidence toward evolution than creation but the truth is that we really don't know. Learn all you can and then make your decision about what you will believe. It's kind of stupid to be uneducated about evolution and even fear it but it's also stupid to believe it just because it's what your teacher said - that's no different than believing creation just because it's what your preacher said.

All the other answers here seem to be piling you up with information to support evolution - you can find that for yourself or learn it in school. Just encourage your friends to educate themselves and go with what they believe whether it's popular or not.

PS: Gravity is a LAW not a theory, in reply to one of the other answers.

Answer 8

Scientifically speaking, a theory is something that hasn't been proven wrong. All the evidence (DNA analysis, fossil record, etc) points towards evolution. There is no proof that we came from adam and eve. What makes me mad is when people argue against evolution, yet they know nothing about it. they say they did not come from monkeys. The theory of evolution doesn't say we did. All it says is that humans share a common ancestor with primates like the chimps.

Answer 9

look around you...everything evolves. evolution is simply change through time and everything changes. darwin simply explains how this change occurs. look at the various breeds of dogs. did they just appear ....no man directed the various breeds by artificailly selecting the desired characteristics they wanted. nature does the same thing with living organisms selecting for those characteristics best suited at that particular time.
people need to separate their beliefs form science. one is based on faith and is scientifcally unable to be tested whereas science is based on reproducable tests. the two do not belong together. these does not mean you must choose between god or science but rather keep the two separate from one another. biblical scholars state that the old testament stories are just that. stories to explain and give directions on how to live. kind of like aesops fables...morality tales and stories to explain things to us about things we didn't know at that time in history. does it make the bible or old testament any less important. no!
so continue to learn science for the sake of learning about the world around us and how it works. without evolution we would not be here.

Answer 10

Please read about and study evolution and don't listen to your friends who choose not to believe something that is true and is supported by facts and all kinds of evidence.

In science, the word "theory" has different meaning than in non-scientific language. Not every detail of evolution has been worked out, but the overall theory is true and correct. It is very easy for your friends to simply say they don't believe it. It is harder, but much, much more rewarding to investigate for yourself and find the facts.

Evolution is also not something that "took place". It is "taking place" right now as you read this. If you hear about bacteria and germs that are spreading in hospitals or schools that are resistant to all of our antibiotics, that is evolution in action right now. Those tiny microbes are evolving to be able to survive all of the antibiotics we have available now. We are able to see it happening because bacteria reproduce so rapidly. It is not near as evident in our human lifetimes in humans or other larger animals that require more time to reproduce.