Majority of Republicans Doubt Theory of Evolution

[Lyenae]

Originally Posted by Millie

What has religion ever conclusively proved?

I'm not arguing along a fictitious 2 sided war.

I just find it offensive when people claim that if you don't believe in a scientific theory that will arguably never be proven (evolution in this case,) then you are uneducated.

[Dabamf]

Originally Posted by Lyenae

I'm not arguing along a fictitious 2 sided war.

I just find it offensive when people claim that if you don't believe in a scientific theory that will arguably never be proven (evolution in this case,) then you are uneducated.

Not uneducated, just making a severe epistemological error (see my above post).

[Eomer]

Originally Posted by Lyenae

Claiming evolution is true is like finding a coin, on the floor, next to the table, and insisting it must have fallen off it because you saw it up on the table a few minutes ago.

If someone disagrees with you claiming that it magically transported itself from one place to another, obviously they are batshit insane.

Fixed.

[Lyenae]

Originally Posted by Dabamf

Think about gravity. There is no reason we are aware of as to why it exists. Therefore it could be the product of something else in such a way that this other force just happens to mimic the illusion of gravity 99.999999999% of the time. But this thought is preposterous. Why be skeptical of gravity unless we have a reason to be? The same goes with evolution. So much evidence in favor, no evidence against it, and no viable alternatives. And you choose skepticism?

Gravity is a force that exists and is tangible.

Evolutionary theory is claiming that a process gradually happened in the past.

Something I can feel versus proving history.

It's a completely different level of skepticism.

[Lejina Bloodbath]

Cut the bullshit. A couple posts above this one I gave an exemple of evolution happening in the last centuary. It is very well recorded and has affected hugely the medicine and it is something that keeps the entire medical community on their toes.

It happened not long ago, has been very well observed and it's current process cost billions of dollars and a huge number of lives.

To simply ignore this and keep your stance is not only uneducated, but ignorant, foolish and close minded to unthinkable level. Do us a favor, next time you have an infection, make sure to ask for penicilin and nothing else.

[Lyenae]

Originally Posted by Eomer

Fixed.

Because like, someone walking along reaching into their pocket accidentally dropped a coin on the floor. Or someone threw it there, or it fell off a truck, or someone placed it there to fuck with you.

Yeah, it's completely impossible it's anything other then a coin rolling off the table.

[AngryGerbil]

Myxomatosis = humans observing first hand without any real shred of doubt, that the process of evolution through natural selection does actually happen.

Of course, that is one of about a million examples.

But nah, I'm sure there is still a huge chance that the theory is wrong.

I mean, there is still a chance yes. Myxomatosis might have evolved in order to better replicate itself and increase it's chance of prorogation by a process other than natural selection. If you have an idea on that, I'm all ears.

*EDIT*

That makes me wonder why the religious don't just go ahead and embrace evolution, but then deny natural selection. They could say "yes, myxomatosis did evolve, but god made it happen."

Meh. I guess it all comes back to Genesis and the garden of eden and the fact that they REALLY don't like the idea that humans weren't just blinked into existence.

[PerritoBites]

Uses in technology

For more details on this topic, see Artificial selection and Evolutionary computation.

A major technological application of the power of evolution is artificial selection, which is the intentional selection of certain traits in a population of organisms. Humans have used artificial selection for thousands of years in the domestication of plants and animals.[161] More recently, such selection has become a vital part of genetic engineering, with selectable markers such as antibiotic resistance genes being used to manipulate DNA in molecular biology.

Evolution - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Origin of life

For more details on this topic, see Origin of life and RNA world hypothesis.

The origin of life is a necessary precursor for biological evolution, but understanding that evolution occurred once organisms appeared and investigating how this happens, does not depend on understanding exactly how life began.[119] The current scientific consensus is that the complex biochemistry that makes up life came from simpler chemical reactions, but it is unclear how this occurred.[120] Not much is certain about the earliest developments in life, the structure of the first living things, or the identity and nature of any last universal common ancestor or ancestral gene pool.[121][122] Consequently, there is no scientific consensus on how life began, but proposals include self-replicating molecules such as RNA,[123] and the assembly of simple cells.[124]

Lines of evidence: The science of evolution

At the heart of evolutionary theory is the basic idea that life has existed for billions of years and has changed over time.

Overwhelming evidence supports this fact. Scientists continue to argue about details of evolution, but the question of whether life has a long history or not was answered in the affirmative at least two centuries ago.

The history of living things is documented through multiple lines of evidence that converge to tell the story of life through time. In this section, we will explore the lines of evidence that are used to reconstruct this story.
These lines of evidence include:

* Fossil evidence

* Homologies

* Distribution in time and space

* Evidence by example

Lines of evidence: The science of evolution

What is the evidence for evolution? What is the evidence for evolution? << previous | next >>

Evidence by example

Although the history of life is always in the past, there are many ways we can look at present-day organisms, as well as recent history, to better understand what has occurred through deep time. Artificial selection in agriculture or laboratories provides a model for natural selection. Looking at interactions of organisms in ecosystems helps us to understand how populations adapt over time. Experiments demonstrate selection and adaptive advantage. And we can see nested hierarchies in taxonomies based on common descent.

[PerritoBites]

Originally Posted by Lyenae

Gravity is a force that exists and is tangible.

Evolutionary theory is claiming that a process gradually happened in the past.

Something I can feel versus proving history.

It's a completely different level of skepticism.

The results of gravity are as tangible as the results from evolution.

[Lejina Bloodbath]

Funny thing, it's we have no idea what exacly is the cause of gravity. It's just pretty damn hard to argue with a hammer falling on your foot.

We know the details of evolution, observed it in action, can duplicate it and know exacly how it works. But since you can ignore it by simply closing your eyes, putting your hands on your ears and yelling LALALALALALA, we have people saying it doesn't happen.

[Marduk]

Lyenae is trolling hardcore here. It is a work of art. Either that or she (he?) has issues.

[Dabamf]

Arguing any further is pointless. Everyone pretty much covered all bases, so any restating is just going to risk leaving weaker arguments fresh on his mind.

The way the human mind operates prevents any change of opinion from happening so shortly after someone so strongly maintains a position. Just give it time and lets prevent this thread from getting 'shawed.

[AndersJ]

Originally Posted by Lejina Bloodbath

Funny thing, it's we have no idea what exacly is the cause of gravity. It's just pretty damn hard to argue with a hammer falling on your foot.

We know the details of evolution, observed it in action, can duplicate it and know exacly how it works. But since you can ignore it by simply closing your eyes, putting your hands on your ears and yelling LALALALALALA, we have people saying it doesn't happen.

Well, shit, we still don't know half of what's in the fucking oceans either. :/ It's kind of mind boggling that despite how advanced we see ourselves, we just pale in comparison to where we could be in a few decades or centuries.

[PerritoBites]

Originally Posted by AndersJ

Well, shit, we still don't know half of what's in the fucking oceans either. :/ It's kind of mind boggling that despite how advanced we see ourselves, we just pale in comparison to where we could be in a few decades or centuries.

Until we can make our own planets I don't think we will fully understand how our own planet works. Sadly knowing how our planet works won't answer all the questions of the universe. I doubt humans will ever achieve total knowledge... but I am sure I won't be around when/if that happens. Maybe aliens will help us out ;D

[AngryGerbil]

Originally Posted by Dabamf

Arguing any further is pointless. Everyone pretty much covered all bases, so any restating is just going to risk leaving weaker arguments fresh on his mind.

The way the human mind operates prevents any change of opinion from happening so shortly after someone so strongly maintains a position. Just give it time and lets prevent this thread from getting 'shawed.

Concur. My best friend of 15+ years is slowly starting to come around and realize that evolution theory may not be the work of the devil after all. But this didn't happen by me brow-beating him into submission in one sitting. It was a slow SLOW process of asking him the correct sequence of logical and skeptical questions over the course of ten or more years. Each time letting him go home and mull it over for a month or two before we'd get drunk and pick the conversation back up again.