why do you believe in evolution?

Question

now, first off you need to understand that i'm not trying to disrespect anyone, i'm just trying to understand. life is just too complicated to have happened by random chance, i mean if i showed you an airplane and told you that it was assembled when a tornado blew through a junkyard and all the pieces just happened to fall EXACTLY where they needed to go for the plane to work, would you believe me? and life is waaaay more complicated than an airplane. also, the most evidence supporting evolution is the fossils, the deeper in the ground you go, the simpler the life forms get, which makes sense, but if a fish slowly turned into a frog at one point, why don't we have any fossils of a part fish, part frog creature? we have fish fossils, and frog fossils, but none of an animal that is part both. before Darwin died he even SAID that his theory was wrong. so why do you believe in it? what evidence is supporting your belief?

Answer 1

I don't, the evidences for Evolution is obtained through an / a philosophical & Ideological bias, One just has to see the answers posted here by Atheist to see that with their lying Evolution Web sites and pseudo-Science they employ.



What is tragic is that many Christians (and I use that word Christian loosely) are succumbing to worldly pressure to adjust their theology to “Make it Fit”

For it is Written “ 2 Timothy 4:3-4 (NKJV) For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, [because] they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn [their] ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.



These Christians do not know just HOW That effects Their theology

How a Christian views Creation has a profound effect on that.

How do beliefs about creation impact the rest of theology?

http://www.gotquestions.org/creation-theology-beliefs.html



Why is Biblical Creationism so important?

http://www.gotquestions.org/biblical-creationism.html



The Gospel—Evidence for Creation

http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/cm/v11/n1/gospel



Many secular and atheist groups mock Creation Science and Christians for not being scientific. However, some of the most influential scientists past and present have been and are creationists



Some modern scientists who have accepted the biblical account of creation

http://www.answersingenesis.org/home/area/bios/



A Good read that explains the Bias against Creation is here



The Battle for the Beginning

By: John MacArthur

http://www.christianbook.com/the-battle-for-the-beginning/john-macarthur/9780785271598/pd/71597?event=AFF&p=1011693&



The Case For The Creator

The Case for the Creator is a deep look into the evidence for Intelligent design. "My road to atheism was paved by science... but, ironically, so was my later journey to God." -Lee Strobel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRJ_po3_JQg



http://www.answersingenesis.org/



http://www.icr.org/

Answer 2

*sigh*



Life is complicated only because that complexity is built on simpler forms in the past.



Natural selection is the opposite of random. Those traits which add to the survival of an organism and those that do no harm to the survival are retained while those that harm survival diminish over time. The tornado in a junkyard analogy would ONLY work if those parts that hit the right spot stuck there. In fairly short order, this actually would assemble an airplane.



All creatures that ever lived and all that live today are transitional forms. Species evolve, not individuals. The idea of fixed "missing links" is an obsolete idea.



The rumor of Darwin renouncing evolution was spread by 19th Century Super-Christian Lady Hope. The rumor was denied by Darwin's own family, so how an adversary who was not present would know what the family who present says is false is dubious and likely propaganda.



I accept that evolution is the best theory for explaining the diversity of life that has ever been devised. It is supported by paleontology, biogeography, developmental biology, morphology and genetics. What is even better is that the original theory had no explanation for the means of the inheritance of certain traits. We later discovered genetics which closed that gap in the theory. Predictive capacity is one of the greatest measures of a theory.



Any replacement theory for evolution must explain everything that evolution explains AND explain other things which evolution does not explain AND explain why our current understanding is apparent, but mistaken. There is no such alternative in science at this time. Simply saying "God did it" explains nothing and has no predictive ability. It is a vastly inferior theory that retards knowledge. Furthermore, evolutionary principles have been applied to engineering projects -- such as computer and aeronautic designs -- where it has proved quite adept at improving on human designs in efficiency and cost savings.

Answer 3

A lot of people have made some good points here about ways in which you seem to be misunderstanding evolution and the strong evidence it has. However, in addition to all those points, let me give you a very simple reason why you should believe in evolution. You should believe in evolution because almost every scientist in the world does, and unless you're a scientists yourself, you're simply not qualified to have any reason to disagree with such a strong scientific consensus.



To give an analogy, most people don't really understand quantum mechanics. If I were to tell you half of the theories physicists have come up with, you'd probably think they're far more inconceivable than evolution. However, most people don't have a problem with quantum mechanics, because they realize that it's something they simply haven't studied and thus don't understand. I think the reason people so often question evolution is because it's very easy to think you understand it when you actually don't. The theory itself is relatively simple, but understanding the timescale through which it took place and the molecular evidence for it requires a very thorough knowledge of biology.



If you're really interested in understanding evolution, the best thing to do would be to take college level classes in biology, which will help you understand not just what evolution says, but why the evidence for it is so compelling. But if you ask why a layman should believe in evolution, I'd argue that the best reason is simply because scientists, who dedicate their lives to studying these things objectively, have told us that it is a correct theory.

Answer 4

Evolution is about adaptation and has the fossil record among other observations to support it. What you're asking about is abiogenisis.

As for your analogy, it's flawed. A better analogy would be like there are over 100 balls but only one bal-shaped divot in a slanted surface. After the balls are dropped only one fits in the divot while the rest eventually roll away.

I use this one because over 99% of the species that have ever existed couldn't "fit" or adapt.

BTW, the Big Bang wasn't an explosion, it was an expansion (still expanding today) and the conditions for life and the development of life was an excruciatingly long process. And the development of complex life was yet another excruciatingly long process.

Answer 5

I don't believe in evolution, in the religious sense of certainty without supporting evidence and a valid argument. I understand how the theory of evolution has been tested in many ways, against measurable reality, and passed every one of those tests. So I can be confident that it is at least usefully accurate. The vast complexity of life is one of the big factors in favor of a process that was built on random mutations taking place in trillions of living things, in parallel, across billions of years of time, that were sorted, in every generation, between useful and detrimental, by natural selection. And that complexity may span a lot more range than you appreciate, since the estimated 8.7 million living species make up only about and estimated 0.2% of all the species we have some evidence for ever having lived on Earth.



I hope you continue to learn about fossils. You have missed a lot, so far. There are many fossils of animals that lie along the hereditary path up the family tree, between ancient fish and modern frogs, as well as between ancient fish and modern humans. I let the evidence explain things to me. You just have not yet seen much of that evidence.



--

Regards,



John Popelish

Answer 6

It is a well tested, observable, fact. Evolution works. We've seen it in the wild, we've seen it in decades-long lab studies, and we even have a pretty good idea of how it works.



Airplane don't have DNA and don't reproduce sexually. So the analogy is a false one.



You part fish, part frog? Meet the lungfish: http://animals.howstuffworks.com/fish/lungfish-info.htm An eel-like fish with both gills and lungs. But note that evolution doesn't produce weird hybrids that are half this and half that. Instead evolutions is changes in populations over time in response to environmental pressures and mutations. The process takes hundreds of thousands of generations for the changes to show.



Oh, and the claim that Darwin denied evolution on his deathbed is a complete lie. http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/hope.html

Answer 7

regrettably, sure. i don't know how they are able to guard the cognitive dissonance. you're no longer nicely-knowledgeable because you do no longer know that concept is the utmost point in technological know-how. that isn't any longer a wager. it fairly is ignorant to assert "purely a concept". the ordinary ancestor of all apes (such as human beings and chimps) is a monkey and which would be shown on your delight. It would not count on the theory of evolution. it fairly is a actuality. Theories have not got evidence which purely applies in arithmetic. Theories have evidence. there is not any evidence of a god of any style. Theories are falsifiable. it fairly is a function, no longer a malicious program. If evidence is produced that shows yet another concept or this one desires replace, then we found out some thing and are grateful for it. faith would not have that function. And it fairly is requred. So creation with the help of a god isn't able to being a concept. because of the fact the invention of mitochodrial DNA ancestry could be desperate with the help of genetic mapping and we don't elect bones to make confident the theory. Theories make predictions and could be utilized to enhance different theories and open up completely new lines of inquiry. the theory of evolution is sensible because of the fact is works, no longer unavoidably given it fairly is actuality. Evolution is actuality yet organic decision is a concept. base line is that it works. God as an evidence would not artwork for us and isn't any longer probably an answer in that regard. Its an excuse to no longer think of approximately it.

Answer 8

You need to read up on evolution because you totally don't understand it, with your part fish part frog thing. We HAVE fossils of the steps in between fish and land creatures.



Evolution is the most logical explanation to the formation of life. The creature with the most chance at reproducing, makes sure his offspring have the same genes. In that way they develop and develop further to become better fit to their environment, and their offspring develops with them.



Actually, there's nothing that disproves evolution, people who don't believe it are ignorant/indoctrinated, except for the few who can actually state decent reasons for not believing in it.

Answer 9

I don't believe in evolution, I accept evolution as facts. There is no documentation that Darwin state his scientific theory is wrong. Go back to school and retake biology. What does airplanes have to do with evolution that is a poor argument. Try again, later.

Answer 10

I studied the evidence and found it compelling



You misunderstand, evolution is not about 'random chance', the junkyard analogy is entirely fallacious. I suggest you go and learn what evolution is about.



Also, we have tons of transitional fossils:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transitional_fossil



And we do have 'part fish part frog' creatures, see the lungfish

Answer 11

evolution aint that simple to just write down here. U better grab a 10th grade book.



I am weak in chemistry. So, in 10th grade i started from 6th grade books. Lower grade books doesnt contain explanation just basics. Grab a higher end book and u will know. Mind it, evolution aint any belief. How? Read to find out

Answer 12

It's kinda absurd that as I sat down to type this, I've spilt milkshake down my top! Anyway... If you were honest you would ask this on a Science section and ask for a real explanation of evolution. I better go as my nan needs some lottery tickets! LoL!.

Answer 13

It is only extreme fundamentalist churches, mostly of American origin, that deny evolution. These small cults make a lot of noise, but do not reflect modern Christian thought. Their theology is so far removed from mainstream Christianity that they are barely Christian at all, and their hatred, bigotry and lies are pushing more and more people away from Christianity.



Evolution is not something that people believe in, it is something that you accept - it is true whatever fundies think.

Answer 14

Evidence for evolution:

DNA sequencing, Endogenous retroviruses, similarities between all lineages of DNA/RNA/amino acids & the lipid bilayer, Pseudogenes, genome & gene duplication, horizontal gene transfer, Cat endogenous retroviruses, Chromosome 2 in humans, Cytochrome c, Human endogenous retroviruses, Human mitochondrial DNA haplogroup, Human Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup, Atavisms, Evolutionary developmental biology & embryonic development, Homologous structures and divergent (adaptive) evolution, Nested hierarchies and classification, Fossil Record, Continental distribution, Island biogeography, Antibiotic & pesticide resistance, E. coli long-term evolution experiment, Lactose intolerance in humans, Nylon-eating bacteria, PCB tolerance, Peppered moth, Radiotrophic fungus, Urban wildlife. Vestigial structures in embryonic development including: Hind structures in whales, Insect mouthparts, Other arthropod appendages, Pelvic structure of dinosaurs, Pentadactyl limb, Recurrent laryngeal nerve in giraffes, Route of the vas deferens. Observed speciation including: Blackcap, Drosophila melanogaster, Hawthorn fly, London Underground mosquito, Madeira House Mouse, Mollies, Thale cress





Darwin never said that. Put simply, Lady Hope made it up. Darwin's entire family denied it, and his daughter specfically said, "‘I was present at his deathbed. Lady Hope was not present during his last illness, or any illness. I believe he never even saw her, but in any case she had no influence over him in any department of thought or belief. He never recanted any of his scientific views, either then or earlier … . The whole story has no foundation whatever’."



As for a fish turning into a land animal, do you mean like this:

http://media.photobucket.com/image/recent/BumFluff/bako_walkingfish.jpg

http://images.travelpod.com/users/thejones187/1.1273010519.skimmer-fish-with-legs-that-jumps.jpg

Answer 15

You might consider getting back in school. Just a friendly idea.



Also, is there a natural history museum in the city where you live? All major cities have at least one.

.

Answer 16

We just haven't found it yet.

It may be anywhere.

It also could be that just this animal never died appropriately to us to be discovered.

Besides, maybe they where even discovered.

But you or I just don't know about.

Howsoever, evolution appears logical, most logical.

Answer 17

Because it makes sense, and its concepts can be reproduced in a lab (and many times outside one). That's the basic test ofr the factuality of any assertion, as far as I'm concerned.

Answer 18

I don't "believe in" evolution any more than I "believe in" photosynthesis. But I am knowledgeable about both these well understood natural processes. There is no "belief" involved.

Answer 19

If you were honest you would ask this on a Science section and ask for a real explanation of evolution.

Answer 20

Because there is compelling evidence.

Answer 21

Because we are here. Did you know that we evolved and thats the end of it!!!

Answer 22

Why do you believe that gravity exists?

Answer 23

because its a verifiable fact