Do You Believe in Evolution?
This question is more about macroevolution as opposed microevolution. Before anyone decides to inform me that micro is macro given time. I am aware. Explain if you wish what your understanding of macroevolution.
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Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.Evolution has been proven. It is not just a theory. The "Theory of Evolution" is used primary to denote a specific area of further scientific research and the general groups of ideas along those lines.
There is also the "Theory of Flight", which is basically referred to in the same way, proven, but referring to continued scientific research along a particular grouping of ideas, but you never her anyone claiming tht the "theory of Flight" is just a theory.
snytiger6
Level 9
Oct 23, 2017
0
Religion is a denial of a basic fact of life. One who can deny the basic facts can deny anything - and they do. Some facts of life: every planet in the universe, including our own has a carrying capacity for life (all life forms are limited by the available resources. When a life form becomes too numerous [overpopulated] nature seeks ways to create a balance). One way to establish a balance is through evolution. For humans that means disease, hunger/thirst, natural forces, war and on and on. The only way to avert this natural balancing act to to take charge ourselves, see the problem and come up with ways to limit our numbers. Unfortunately, we, with our supposed superior intelligence, do just the opposite.
I am a hobbyist fruit grower. Apples do not come true from seed (extreme heterozygotes). The purpose of this is for the fruit to evolve ahead of pests. When we come along and graft the fruit we stop the evolutionary process. That is why this fruit and many other mono-cultures develop problems. The apple is not native to the US. In our state, WA, the hawthorn maggot is native. Entomologists can actually watch the hawthorn maggot evolve into the apple maggot - a major pest for this fruit. Evolution is an observable fact - like it or not. Remember, nature doesn't care about our likes or comforts; we have to care for ourselves and work for what works for us!
JackPedigo
Level 9
Oct 19, 2017
2
...None of those answers is accurate. Macro and micro evolution are the exact same thing, so those options make no sense, there is no evidence a god exists, and I certainly don't believe one does, so I can't choose that one, and the last option is a joke. Evolution is a fact. Pull the "just a theory" line all you like, but in science, "theory" is as close as it gets to "proven fact". Don't like it? Too bad. I do not BELIEVE in evolution. I ACCEPT it, because it is the truth. Plain and simple.
Rory_C-137
Level 3
Oct 9, 2017
3
I've gotten a lot of people reporting back that evolution is a fact. Science doesn't declare absolutes; science offers us the best explanations that support any given model. To claim evolution as a fact is no different than a theist asserting that it is incorrect.
The reason for my distinction between micro and macro wasn't that I don't understand that they are similar terms referring to the same thing, as stated above, "Before anyone decides to inform me that micro is macro given time. I am aware." I worded it that way because I know many theists who accept microevolution but reject the macroevolutionary evidence that supports speciation.
So Evolution is a theory based on a massive amount of evidence, and as it stands now, it's the best explanation of what is occurring in nature.
Wrong on a few things. First off, notice how I put "proven fact" in quotes. Yes, I know that science doesn't deal in proof. That's math. HOWEVER, evolution is a fact. It isn't just supported by evidence, but by the ability to predict locations of new finds. And like it or not, micro and macro evolution are the EXACT same thing. The "given time" line is a bit of a misnomer. Yes, larger things take more time to properly evolve, but that's obvious. It's still the EXACT same process, and so no distinction exists. The only reason those terms are used is because Ken Ham, Ray Comfort, or whichever creationist who doesn't have the FOGGIEST understanding of science(most especially biology), coined the terms to dodge the reality of the theory. It's no different than someone looking at a crime scene, that's LOADED with evidence, and which even had the still bloody killer sitting in the back yard playing with the victim's severed head, and having them say "Well there's no PROOF he did it." Evolution is that solid a theory. That's why I call it a fact. Maybe science won't call it that, but the evidence is FAR too vast to deny it without willful ignorance.
I hope you take this as just a fun conversation and not a combative argument. A fact is I'm holding a rock in my hand. The theory is when I release it from my hand it will fall to the ground using Newtonian laws of gravity the proof is in the observation of this occurring. I was once you arguing that evolution was a fact in a mock debate with a creationist, here is what the head of the biology department said to correct me. Science could have at one time proclaimed that the Newtonian law of gravity was a fact because all the evidence of the day supported it. Orbital predictions were verified based on this "fact," and in 1846 the planet Neptune was discovered using these same predictive powers offered by Newtonian gravitational laws. It wasn't until Einstein came up with the General Theory of Relativity that science realized how and why Newton was wrong. Einstein's theory of General Relativity better supported what we see in nature and we still don't call even that a fact. Theories like evolution, are detailed models that best represent the fact that lifeforms change over time, and the proof is the evidence that these changes are occurring. Why this is happening is answered by the theory of evolution, but a better theory could in the future replace it. And yes micro and macro are the same things given time.
Asking if I believe in evolution is like asking if I believe in calculus, organic chemistry, or meteorology. Evolution is simply the organizing concept of biology. Biology without evolution would be like chemistry without the Periodic Table of the Elements.
Saladin2
Level 2
Oct 9, 2017
5
Belief in evolution is something of a misstatement...you either understand evolution or you don't.
ArwynElden
Level 3
Oct 8, 2017
2
One person says they do not know, I wonder why?
Thunderbolt800
Level 3
Oct 6, 2017
0
If you've never investigated and you're a skeptical person, it would be the most honest answer. I personally can't get enough. I enjoy every bit of information I can get on the subject.
I'd rather someone admit they simply don't understand than assert it's wrong based on ignorance.
I don't "believe" in evolution anymore than I "believe" that the earth is round or that our solar system is sun-centric. These things just are. Beliefs are created in the absence of data, the absence of facts. Once we have the data, belief isn't necessary.
Benthoven
Level 8
Oct 6, 2017
4
I appreciate your conviction. I would say that belief is still a subset of knowledge. Since I have never been to space and seen the Earth go around the sun or done the calculations that prove it without having been to space, I believe that the evidence is being accurately reported to me by those that have. It might just be an issue of definitions, and I think this is likely. My definition of faith is more in line with your definition of belief. My definition of belief is an acceptance of any proposal after the evaluation of evidence. Faith would be acceptance of any proposal despite the contrary or lack of evidence.
I agree. And beliefs are built into the cake. They are the default function in our minds so they absolutely serve a purpose. I use that language to remind me to make sure I'm not clinging to a belief is something comes along and challenges my pet ideology.
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