Thread: Do you believe in evolution?

Before I ask this, I want to clear some ignorance up:
You've been told that "evolution is just a theory", a guess, a hunch, and not a fact, not proven. You've been misled. Keep reading, and in less than two minutes from now you'll know that you've been misinformed. We're not going to try and change your mind about evolution. We just want to point out that "it's just a theory" is not a valid argument.
The Theory of Evolution is a theory, but guess what? When scientists use the word theory, it has a different meaning to normal everyday use.1 That's right, it all comes down to the multiple meanings of the word theory. If you said to a scientist that you didn't believe in evolution because it was "just a theory", they'd probably be a bit puzzled.
In everyday use, theory means a guess or a hunch, something that maybe needs proof. In science, a theory is not a guess, not a hunch. It's a well-substantiated, well-supported, well-documented explanation for our observations.2 It ties together all the facts about something, providing an explanation that fits all the observations and can be used to make predictions. In science, theory is the ultimate goal, the explanation. It's as close to proven as anything in science can be.
Some people think that in science, you have a theory, and once it's proven, it becomes a law. That's not how it works. In science, we collect facts, or observations, we use laws to describe them, and a theory to explain them. You don't promote a theory to a law by proving it. A theory never becomes a law.
This bears repeating. A theory never becomes a law. In fact, if there was a hierarchy of science, theories would be higher than laws. There is nothing higher, or better, than a theory. Laws describe things, theories explain them. An example will help you to understand this. There's a law of gravity, which is the description of gravity. It basically says that if you let go of something it'll fall. It doesn't say why. Then there's the theory of gravity, which is an attempt to explain why. Actually, Newton's Theory of Gravity did a pretty good job, but Einstein's Theory of Relativity does a better job of explaining it. These explanations are called theories, and will always be theories. They can't be changed into laws, because laws are different things. Laws describe, and theories explain.
Just because it's called a theory of gravity, doesn't mean that it's just a guess. It's been tested. All our observations are supported by it, as well as its predictions that we've tested. Also, gravity is real! You can observe it for yourself. Just because it's real doesn't mean that the explanation is a law. The explanation, in scientific terms, is called a theory.
Evolution is the same. There's the fact of evolution. Evolution (genetic change over generations)3 happens, just like gravity does. Don't take my word for it.4 Ask your science teacher, or google it. But that's not the issue we are addressing here. The Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection is our best explanation for the fact of evolution. It has been tested and scrutinised for over 150 years, and is supported by all the relevant observations.
Next time someone tries to tell you that evolution is just a theory, as a way of dismissing it, as if it's just something someone guessed at, remember that they're using the non-scientific meaning of the word. If that person is a teacher, or minister, or some other figure of authority, they should know better. In fact, they probably do, and are trying to mislead you.5
Evolution is not just a theory, it's triumphantly a theory!

Please do not be ignorant about the theory thing...I can verify with my Biology book.
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Do YOU believe in evolution? If not why, even though 99% of scientists around the world do. Do you think evolution contradicts God? Please support your answer:D

Well I of course, as man of reason and science, i beleive in Evolution. But I really don't understand why creationists do not, and thats why i posted this, so creationists can support thier views. I always would like to know 2 sides of the story. Maybe some creationist can present thier argument:)
I want to know other people's views and why they think like that:D

I agree with buckyshort!,nice post although the title is a little odd. I think it's almost undeniable that "e"volution (little e) exists, which is to say that societies evolve (or you could argue devolve after a certain point - a great movie is Idiocracy). Technology and science are amazing and the human mind consistently builds on previous generations knowledge. There probably isn't an original thought that is created anymore (this is the whole premise of sharing in RIP Remix Manifesto). Every philosophical or scientific achievement rests on the shoulders of giants.
I believe that Evolution is the key to our past and where us as humans came from. It explains the first life forms, to the most complex one like us. Darwin in my mind, was a genius and as well as a logical thinker. His theory makes sense and only sense. I don't see how anyone could study it and call it fake or not true.
Scientific studies and excavations have found lifeforms that support the theory of evolution,but in the USA only about 40% believe that its true.

On the other hand i believe in god because i think to myself, who the hell made all this stuff, who the hell invented the earth,the galaxy? >Sometimes i refuse to believe science made all this.
Einstein was probably right when he said -
"Believing that one big explosion created life on earth and made this possible is like believing that a library will explode, all pieces of paper will fall on the same spot and in the same order to make the books complete again"

Well, I think that evoultion (any animal evolving) is undeniable fact.

However, evolution of HUMANS is another story, and it simply rests on the fact that humans are going to think highly of themselves. Hence, religious leaders know this and take advantage of it.

That's my two cents. I'm generally agnostic about god, and I think that it will never be solved in my lifetime, so I don't bother.

Of course, sure there are many missing puzzles in the theory but it's pretty clear that with gradual change and adaptation, we change physically.

I have never thought of evolution as a false concept. I grew up thinking of it as a fact. I am not , so science stated the facts for my, and I believed it.

Evolution is indeed a well proven idea, and proof of its existence lies everywhere. This cannot be argued with.

Fox

I agree with buckyshort, the title is misleading..
About the real thread, that's just a coincidence, because just the other day I watched this video on Youtube and this guy said the same thing :P

That's how he explained it (sorry, but yours was just a bit too long):
A theory is a collection of facts put together, these fact give tiny clues about a subject, later BASED on these clues and these facts, a scientist creates a theory. Theories aren't always right, in fact, there wrong most of the time, but they are wrong because of two things:
1. Lack of supporting facts
2. Wrong interpretation of the main idea (I.E. Facts are there but wrongly interpreted)

Maybe in a few years, we'll find mistakes in the theory of evolution, but they won't be colossal and they won't change much, science is about learning and until no one disproves this theory, it's a solid fact.
Even if it turns out to be wrong somewhere, it's just one or two fact that are wrong, there is no way that suddenly God exists...