Sorry for not posting, I havnt checked this debate in a while and I didnt realize it was going again.
First of all, what kind of proof would you expect to see for evolution? Understand that fossils are actually fairly rare. Only a tiny percentage of the species for any given time period get preserved in the fossil record. Even with gaps of tens of millions of years between fossil records, though, it's quite easy to see how one species evolves into another. Look at distinctive traits that carry over from one species to the next, such as the talons birds share with dinosaurs or the five fingered hand structure shared by all mammals. Furthermore, DNA behaves exactly as evolution predicts it should. The more related two species are, the better their DNA matches up. It's possible to trace the history of mutations by comparing the DNA of two species and seeing where they differ, and what series of mutations could have made that difference.
Also, as I said before, increasing complexity is just a side effect of evolution. The primary idea of evolution is that the better adapted a species is to its environment, the more likely it is to survive.
(March 27, 2009 at 6:33 pm)Hope Wrote: I'm working on the E. COli thing. I have some good links that I'm looking at but I have to go for tonight. BUt I just wanted to add that I'm not an expert either, but I do know that What we are explaining is a proven fact. THAT is science. What you are explaining has never (or since we haven't proven it yet, we'll give you the benefit of the doubt and saying that only ONCE in BILLIONS of years) ever been proven. Darwin himself said that if his theory was correct, that the proof would be all over, in fossil records and such. He basically disproved his own theory!!
And Evolution is primarily the idea that things go from simple to more complex, is it not? That is what my friend was saying.
First of all, what kind of proof would you expect to see for evolution? Understand that fossils are actually fairly rare. Only a tiny percentage of the species for any given time period get preserved in the fossil record. Even with gaps of tens of millions of years between fossil records, though, it's quite easy to see how one species evolves into another. Look at distinctive traits that carry over from one species to the next, such as the talons birds share with dinosaurs or the five fingered hand structure shared by all mammals. Furthermore, DNA behaves exactly as evolution predicts it should. The more related two species are, the better their DNA matches up. It's possible to trace the history of mutations by comparing the DNA of two species and seeing where they differ, and what series of mutations could have made that difference.
Also, as I said before, increasing complexity is just a side effect of evolution. The primary idea of evolution is that the better adapted a species is to its environment, the more likely it is to survive.
"The only things that are infinite are the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the universe."
Albert Einstein
"In a society that has abolished all adventures, the only adventure left is to abolish society."
The Black Iron Prison
Albert Einstein
"In a society that has abolished all adventures, the only adventure left is to abolish society."
The Black Iron Prison
