thoughts on evolution

Well argued. AdamMarley1981, meet truth-giver. truth-giver, meet AdamMarley1981. You'll get on well. Hell AdamMarley, you can go along to tg's church and he'll make you pancakes. I can sense it's going to be the start of a beautiful friendship.

 

"On the Origin of Species", by Charles Darwin. Heh. It really is quite a good read in parts. Badly out of date though, since so much has been discovered and added to Darwin's version of the theory in the 150 years since its publication. I'm sure you can find a ton of books at all levels which will serve as an introduction to the modern evolutionary synthesis.

Richard Dawkins' "The Blind Watchmaker" should also be a good read

 

oh man, oh man! adam marley, you have the one and only truth! that is the strongest proof i have ever seen that disproves evolution!

 

First off, I will admit that evolution is not proven in the same way that Law of Conservation of Mass and Energy is.

It's not proven in the same way exactly, but evolution is a lot more proven to be factual. After all, evidence confirming evolution exists in the DNA of every cell of every living creature on earth, not to mention every fossil discovery ever made, without a single instance of either that's not consistent with evolution.

I see what you're saying, but I don't think it's possible to ever prove anything to a greater degree than evolution has been proven.

 

I saw this quote and thought it was apt...

 

bahahahahaha

 

Yeah i think we're on the same side here lol. Of course evolution is a science, and is studied scientifically by scientists, but even a professor of evolution will admit that it isnt proven. But then again not many things are proven in science, because science is open minded and always ready to accept a new and better explanation. But do not fear good friend! i understand well the mountain range of evidence behind evolution and am ready to defend it with you especially from those who don't understand even it's most basic concepts...

 

This is just a question of semantics. Saying things like "it's not proven", "it is belief" is playing into the hands of creationists who will take that statement to mean it's in some way on an equal footing to their childish ideas about a creator-god. While for various technical reasons scientific theories are never "proven", the theory of evolution, as you imply, is pretty much as well established as any theory is or can be - it is essentially "proven" in the lay-person's, the non-scientist's understanding of that term.

 

Oh, your bloody ignorance doesnt half get my dander up meladdo. I suppose I shouldnt insult you though. Us plants should stick together.
Pedantic? Maybe. I dont like people feeling too superior

 

I liked this post. I want pancakes

 

If evolution is real and plausible then why don't monkies today evolve and walk out of the forest at random becoming human beings. If evolution is true then why is there no actual factual data proving this theory. It is all made up on whisps of smoke that some scientists grasp at to give us a reason for being. No different then religion.

 

OH NO dnt you tell that to the evolutionist! evolution thoery is the same as believing in the bible! just like they say they never seen god and dnt believe in it! then why should a regular person believe these priest....i mean scientist.

 

This level of ignorance is barely worth responding to. Please *read* and *learn* about that which you are criticising. If evolution predicted that monkeys could "evolve into human beings" it would indeed be a problem that this does not happen. Since evolutionary theory does not and has never predicted such a thing, this is an irrelevant, and quite honestly a breathtakingly inane thing to say. Please try to engage with what an idea actually is before having the audacity and arrogance to think you know better.

If you want to learn about the evidence on which the theory of evolution is based can I suggest you actually have a look back through this thread, there have been plenty of examples given and links to evidence, explanations and data Or just google it. Read a book.

 

Perhaps I am ignorant but if evolution does not teach that we are decended from monkies then why was I taught that in school? Hmm

 

I doubt you were taught that monkeys could spontaneously evolve into humans unless you had a spectacularly incompetent biology teacher. Do you think it might be possible you didn't pay attention or properly understand what was being taught?

 

No I am quite certain that is what was taught. Or more likely it was stated that the most plausible example of evolution is the idea that man evolved from apes. Those were the years I actually paid attention, back before I became another statistic

 

Now that's closer - but that's not what you were saying before. The theory is common descent - we share an ancestor species with the apes currently around today. We didn't evolve from them, we evolved from a different, now extinct species and so did they. This occurred via a series of fractional changes over hundreds of thousands of years. The other primates evolved individually in their own ways over this period, as did we. It's hundreds of thousands of years since we diverged from the other apes evolutionarily, so no, we didn;t descend from them, and we wouldn't expect them to evolve into "us".

 

Ahh I see well it is always good to understand better. I am very capable of readily conceding to someone with more knowledge. Any further insight would be very much welcome. I was raised in a christian household and although I am not christian myself I have never really truly studied modern beliefs on evolution except that which the christian lifestyle teaches.

 

Listening to what Christians teach about evolution is like learning how to fly helicopters from the ancient Greeks!

Seriously, good information about evolution is everywhere, for all levels of understanding. Wikipedia it, google it, buy a book, go to the library. Evolutionary theory is the foundation for all modern biology, it is totally uncontroversial and incredibly well established and supported by tons of evidence in multiple fields. There is simply no issue, the matter is as settled as gravity and the motion of the planets.

Totally uncontroversial to everyone but fundamentalists, anyway...

 

i think the true meaning and drive that makes the world what it is and the life we are is too complicated for our brains to understand.

But our brains are slowly growing more complex and more effective, i believe that in like another billion years the creatures we will have evolved in too will understand everything and have a better hold on things.