Evolution is obvious

[Anomalocaris]

So obvious that it took until the 19th century for someone to discover it. My point is to tread with some caution regarding the obvious claim.

Evolution is needed to describe speciation, not the inheritance of traits within reproductively isolated populations. Animal domestication and husbandry has been around for thousands of years indicating that we've known about this for some time. It took Darwin to discover natural selection and the resulting speciation.

What is much more fair to say is that evolution is perfectly reasonable and demonstrably true given the confluence of evidence along with its explanatory and predictive power. Denying it with what we know today is an extreme position.

I think it is easy sometimes to take the knowledge we have today for granted and undervalue the momentous intellectual achievements of the past.

What is obvious depends on what you already know. Evolution is obvious based on what we know in 2014 AD. it might have been obvious based on what we knew in 1780 AD had christainity not used threats and underhanded cajoling to increase to social barrier to its acceptance. But It was probably not obvious before western oceanic global exploration amassed the zoological and botanical knowledge in the 17th and 18th century.

[Minimalist]

The problem is with education I think.

You can lead a jackass to water but you can't make him forget his childhood indoctrination into bullshit.....or something like that.

[Anomalocaris]

I don't think I have ever come across an evolution denier who actually understands the theory. The problem is with education I think.

Majority of those I came across who accept evolution really do not really understand the theory either. So it is not merely a problem of teaching the theory itself. It seems more a problem of teaching of world view.

[Thumpalumpacus]

I just wonder how the belivers come to be so blind to any reason. They just think the evolution to be a pure bullshit. But what if I told them about the diversity between human being. How come we have white, black, asian, american indian etc, each have they're own characteristic. If we were from Adam and Eve as the scriptures say, then there should be no such differences. I don't need more than that to deduce the accuracy of this theory

Because they are wedded to their worldview which includes a creator god. Any creative process which does not invoke a supernatural force threatens that worldview.

(It should be noted that the existence of different races is not necessarily evidence of evolution by natural selection.)

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Mmm what you're saying seem feeble. Otherwise how can you explain differences in our races ? Since with all our differences we're all humans, that proves that we come from common ancestor. And the part where evolution takes place is when the offsrpings came to diversify. It's clear and needs no more unecessary mystification or doubt

The only thing evidenced by different races is the existence of different races. In order to say that "evolution is proven by races", you need to show that evolution causesd the races. It is not enough to say "what else could have?"

[Cato]

When talking about believers, keep in mind that we are mostly only talking about evangelicals. Most other believers have no problem accepting the truth of evolution.




http://www.pewforum.org/2013/12/30/publi...evolution/

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What is obvious depends on what you already know. Evolution is obvious based on what we know in 2014 AD. it might have been obvious based on what we knew in 1780 AD had christainity not used threats and underhanded cajoling to increase to social barrier to its acceptance. But It was probably not obvious before western oceanic global exploration amassed the zoological and botanical knowledge in the 17th and 18th century.

I agree that taking advantage of everything we can know today makes accepting evolutionary theory easier, I even stated that denying it is an extreme position.

Evolution acceptance rates significantly increase with education levels. Not definitive, but this hardly suggests evolution is just a matter of pointing at the evidence.



http://www.pewforum.org/2013/12/30/publi...evolution/

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

Equi nailed this quite some time ago. He pointed out that it isn't so much evolution deniers not understanding the theory as it is not even knowing what evolution is.

You can see it in some of their arguments, plain as a pikestaff. Questions like, 'If we evolved from monkeys, then why are there still monkeys?' and 'Dogs don't give birth to cats, so evolution is false.' These people are so far off base in their critiques of evolution that they aren't even wrong.

It isn't that they don't grasp the subtler niceties of biological evolution - they're arguing against what evolution isn't. If there's ever a scarecrow shortage, these people are going to make a fecking fortune (rim shot).

Boru

[JuliaL]

Why are theists so obtuse?
Because natural selection applies to any replicating informational system not just carbon based life.
The evangelical christian memeplex says "copy me." It has as a subset the command to not consider alternate explanations. That feature, analogous to scales or a shell in animals, directly protects it from external existential threats. Clearly, this stability, in a large number of typical cases, is more influential than the will of the individual believer. It is what allows the memeplex to persist and expand.

.

[ignoramus]

My dad for instance had no schooling at all back in the homeland.
He has never been religious and has never believed in god.

He's got no idea of biology or evolution but agrees with it because the concept of a god is even more ridiculous.
People pick sides for many reasons ...

[Ravenshire]

Never underestimate the power of apologetics

Or stupidity.

Oops. Did I say that out loud?!?

[Wyrd of Gawd]

Darwin's idea is definitely right up there with the discovery of fire.

Sorry, no. Fire made everything up to now, including discovery of evolution, possible. The reverse could in no conceivable sense be possibly true.

Apes can make fire so it will be interesting to see what conclusions they arrive at if they don't become extinct.