Evolution is a fact - Full stop
“Evolution as a process that has always gone on in the history of the earth can be doubted only by those who are ignorant of the evidence or are resistant to evidence, owing to emotional blocks or to plain bigotry.”
These words by the evolutionary scientist Theodosius Dobzhansky will make all the activist doubters uncomfortable who are trying to defend their belief in some kind of god promising them an everlasting life by discrediting evolution.
Or those who have been targeting scientists and science writers with abusive language merely because they confront their ignorance with the uneasy fact of evolutionary science.
What is astonishing is the way in which these ignorant doubters cling to all the hackneyed arguments propagated by their spiritual leaders, using unscientific material produced by creationists and Intelligent Design theorists.
They distort the facts about evolution and clearly believe if you repeat something long and loud enough, it will become the truth.
Unfortunately science has eroded and destroyed most of the “truths” of their holy books.
One of their favourite lies against evolution is that the father of the theory, Charles Darwin, recanted on his deathbed and withdrew all he said about the origins of life.
Or that the Cambrian “explosion” - the period between 570 and 510 million years ago when many new species developed on Earth - proves that the hand of some kind of Intelligent Designer was responsible for this sudden creation and that these species had not developed from other predecessor orders of life.
No matter how many times scientists have brought their attention to a vast valley of evidentiary examples of predecessors of these species living before the Cambrian period.
Closed mindedness
The fallacies anti-evolutionists believe in and which they use in their arguments against the theory of evolution, shows not only ignorance, but also a stubborn refusal to open their minds to modern science and its findings.
They are nothing more than ostriches covering their heads under a bed of sand, wishing and hoping that this attitude will make evolution and its dire consequences on their belief systems disappear.
Well, it won’t. No matter how many times they tell the friends sharing their comfort-zone that evolution is only a theory, not a fact. The leading American paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould buried this misleading argument safely:
“Well, evolution is a theory. It is also a fact. And facts and theories are different things, not rungs in a hierarchy of increasing certainty. Facts are the world’s data,” Gould wrote in his essay, “Evolution as fact and theory”.
“Theories are structures of ideas that explain and interpret facts. Facts do not go away when scientists debate rival theories to explain them.
Einstein’s theory of gravitation replaced Newton’s, but apples did not suspend themselves in mid-air, pending the outcome. And humans evolved from apelike ancestors whether they did so by Darwin’s proposed mechanism or by some other, yet to be discovered.”
Those who still doubt evolution, all portray the same characteristic: they don’t read about science, but rather only creationist material and their holy books.
Before they shoot down evolutionary science again, shouldn’t they first lift the Iron Curtain of gullibility preventing their minds from accepting scientific facts for what they really are?
“Nothing in Biology makes sense except in the light of evolution.” This quote came from Theodosius Dobzhansky (1900-1975), one of the great biologists of all times.
I find it intriguing that persons who don’t read in-depth what the expert scientists publish about a subject have the gall to contradict the scientific findings by presenting their own un-scientific ideas. These ideas are presented without any respect for the scientific method: a method that enables man to walk on the moon and perform hart transplants. The evolution theory is probably the most refuted theory by these unscientific thoughts. If these people would only do themselves the favour to read about the beauty of the evolution theory (or should it be evolution fact?). There are so many brilliant books, articles, and websites to choose from.
A recommendation of an excellent website is http://www.talkorigins.org. From one of their articles the following: “ Evolution is the cornerstone of modern biology. It unites all the fields of biology under one theoretical umbrella.“
I do read what people like William Dembski (from the Discovery Institute, USA), Bernhard Ficker (from Sommerset West, RSA), Gideon Joubert (from Die Groot Gedagte fame), write about evolution and science in general, and many others. Maybe I do not have an open mind but I find these writings utter nonsense. I also read Richard Dawkins (The Blind Watchmaker), Steve Jones (The Language of the Genes), and many other writers, and I am in awe by the beauty of evolution so brilliantly explained by them. The more I watch the creationists fight the scientific findings about anything that they feel is threatening their god (or gods), the more I believe in Richard Dawkins’ meme. The creationists are born with this god-meme and there is nothing we scientists can do to let them see the scientific light. They have the god-light and that is that. We must not stop to fight them, though!
Comment by Savage — October 1, 2006 @ 8:03 am
Twee vrae wat my nou al lank tiekel: Wat is die nut van die ewolusieleer? Hoekom is dit vir sommige ewolusioniste so belangrik om te “bewys” dat God nie bestaan nie? (Ek twyfel of dit in beginsel moontlik is om die nie-bestaan van enigiets te bewys, laat staan nog van dit wat per definisie nie waarneembaar is nie.)
Comment by Rooibaard — October 4, 2006 @ 5:06 pm
“”Twee vrae wat my nou al lank tiekel: Wat is die nut van die ewolusieleer? Hoekom is dit vir sommige ewolusioniste so belangrik om te “bewys” dat God nie bestaan nie? (Ek twyfel of dit in beginsel moontlik is om die nie-bestaan van enigiets te bewys, laat staan nog van dit wat per definisie nie waarneembaar is nie.) “”
Die nut van ewolusieleer bestaan daarin dat diegene wat belangstel in die proses van die ontwikkeling van lewe in ewolusie antwoorde vind op ‘n menigte vrae - vrae wat nie deur die godsdiensleer beantwoord word nie.
Dit is weliswaar so dat die afwesigheid van ‘n feit nie bewys kan word nie. Waarom dan dring miljoene godsdienstige mense aan dat denkende mense hulle onbegronde en onbegrondbare stellings re godsdiens moet aanvaar? Die bestaan van god, ‘n god of gode (re-legio) is totale wensdenkery. ‘n Verdere probleem is dat denkende mense hulle kinders na skole moet stuur waar die irrasionele en mistieke op daaglikese basis in kinders se breine ingedwing word.
Wat is die nut hiervan? Wat kan ‘n kind leer behalwe teenstrydighede en ander nonsens soos bv dat 0=1? re god skep die werklikeheid uit niks….
God is nie ‘n geldige konsep nie - dit het geen verwysing in die werklikheid nie - mense glo dit omdat hul ouers onderwysers en predikante dit vir hulle vertel. Dat konsepte geldig of ongeldig is kan wel bewys word. Maar waarom praat oor bewyse? Godsdienstige mense het mos nie bewyse nodig nie het hulle?
Wat my tiekel is waarom godsdienstige mense so begaan is oor evolusie? Vrees hulle dat hul kinders die logika van die wetenskap sal aanvaar eerder as die nosense van godsdiens?
Interessant dat gelowige mense wetenskapsmetode gebruik om hul nonsens te versprei; rasionaliteit om hul irrasionaliteit te verkoop; produkte van die wetenskap om te oorleef.
Comment by Johann Enslin — October 29, 2006 @ 2:21 am