Do you accept the theory of evolution? - Part 1

[Thundercrack85]

I think it would probably be a good idea for scientists to ditch the word "theory".

Come up with something more sciencey sounding.

 

[KevanG]

Seeing this thread back I'm reminded of the recently closed "Respect" thread, where Human Torch decided to spout the missing link nonsense and state that evolution was bunk.

Yeah,the "missing link" that was supposed to confirm Darwin's theory still hasn't been found in over a hundred years.Should keep looking I guess.It may show up,eventually.

I responded with this and he never answered me.

That's the thing. There is no single missing link.

There's dozens of fossils of varying stages which show the evolution of man. There's several fossils which show small difference over centuries that are missing but there's dozens upon dozens of others that show distinct stages of evolution for thousands of years. It's not one big link that's missing but tiny ones that complete a chain. We have over 95% of the links that show it. We're just missing some tiny ones to show all of it. Futurama did an episode on this. They used actual fossil evidence in a cartoon to demonstrate this. It's verifiable in any natural history museum. Look to the Smithsonian or any book that deals with human fossil records.

I'd like to see his response.

 

[Teelie]

I'm not a scientist, though I can understand the lingo to a degree but I'm not proficient in all the terminology and jargon that gets used depending on the field so I know just enough to be dangerous and too smart/stupid to explain some of it.

The phrase "missing link" is so very misleading, as is the word theory is which were already explained.

There is a lot of that in science though. Global warming is another one that really gets people. Global warming implies that there won't be colder temperatures but there are going to be even as the average temperature goes up around the planet. I think there should have been a different term for it as the general public sees only "it's going to get hotter" and doesn't see the deeper implications or changes that entails.

 

[Dr.]

...missing link nonsense...

Fossilization is rare and capricious. As it happens, there’s a relatively good chain of fossils linking an ape-like ancestor to modern humans. In contrast, the fossil record for chimpanzees is poor. So if you wanted to apply theological significance to “missing links,” chimpanzees would be the better choice. It’s as if they just appeared fully developed.

Perhaps chimps are god’s chosen people.

 

[KevanG]

It never really should have been called global warming, that is way too simplistic and climate change doesn't sound scary enough. We need something scary like Death Storms or something. That will make people sit up and notice.

Fossilization is rare and capricious. As it happens, there’s a relatively good chain of fossils linking an ape-like ancestor to modern humans. In contrast, the fossil record for chimpanzees is poor. So if you wanted to apply theological significance to “missing links,” chimpanzees would be the better choice. It’s as if they just appeared fully developed.

Perhaps chimps are god’s chosen people.

They should have made guns first then. It's thier own fault for just being tool users as opposed to gun makers.

 

[Piper Maru]

What would happen if mankind found out that God was a giant space chimp?

 

[KevanG]

We'd probably try to kill it.

Just cuz.

 

[BestGirl]

I think it would probably be a good idea for scientists to ditch the word "theory".

Come up with something more sciencey sounding.

Maybe they should switch the meanings of hypothesis and theory. The hypothesis of evolution certainly sounds more daunting to refute. t:

 

[Thundercrack85]

Maybe they should switch the meanings of hypothesis and theory. The hypothesis of evolution certainly sounds more daunting to refute. t:

I would go with model myself.

 

[Thundercrack85]

Missing link is good, but I think my favorite creationist talking point is still "show me the "transitional forms".

 

[KevanG]

But Missing Link is the classic fall back. It's true that there is no missing link so they win on that but due to the process of evolution it's not just one stage where we went from monkeys to missing link to man, it's a process. But that doesn't count.

 

[Piper Maru]

Missing link is good, but I think my favorite creationist talking point is still "show me the "transitional forms".

My favorite is the "If we came from monkeys than why are there still monkeys?!" argument.

 

[Teelie]

That is like saying we already have one kind of animal (say fish, or birds, frogs, whatever) so why do we have so many other kinds still?

It takes some daunting simplicity to see the world in that kind of narrow view. "We already have one of x, we don't need any of y."

 

[KevanG]

Or "How dare you say X happened when we have history that says Y happened". Even though various sources could state both or neither happened due to various and often conflicting information availible.

 

[BestGirl]

But Missing Link is the classic fall back. It's true that there is no missing link so they win on that but due to the process of evolution it's not just one stage where we went from monkeys to missing link to man, it's a process. But that doesn't count.

The way I understand it, there are multiple missing links. Just show an evolution nonbeliever the skeleton of an australopithecine.

 

[KevanG]

Like I had posted before in the respect thread we have a huge amount of information from the fossil records and other things that show a chain of changes over time. We don't have them all and likely never will but we have more than enough to demonstrate to anyone who wants to understand it that it has happened.

 

[jaymes_e06]

My favorite is the "If we came from monkeys than why are there still monkeys?!" argument.

The fact that poeple really have arguments where that is the rebuttal makes me sad.

 

[Alex_Spider]

I like what Lloyd Pye says about the human evolution

[YT]e5qJYwfAju8[/YT]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5qJYwfAju8

 

[Thundercrack85]

My favorite is the "If we came from monkeys than why are there still monkeys?!" argument.

Oh that's a classic.

I usually start my rebuttal with "Well, for starters we didn't come from monkeys, we came from older apes..."

 

[KevanG]

If we have sharks why do we still have other fish? If we have New York why do we have Toronto?

 

[Piper Maru]

Ken Miller on Human Evolution
[YT]zi8FfMBYCkk[/YT]
Dr. Ken Miller talks about the relationship between Homo sapiens and the other primates. He discusses a recent finding of the Human Genome Project which identifies the exact point of fusion of two primate chromosomes that resulted in human chromosome #2.

 

[Hal_Jordan]

Seeing this thread back I'm reminded of the recently closed "Respect" thread, where Human Torch decided to spout the missing link nonsense and state that evolution was bunk.



I responded with this and he never answered me.

Well, he can stop waiting for evidence, because they've found evidence and keep finding evidence. Here's another very recent example...

"Newly discovered hand bone bridges important gap of human evolution"
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2013/12/12/1316014110

 

[KevanG]

Like I told him, Futurama showed Fossil Evidence to prove the same point. A cartoon (which is actually very smart and well written) used scientific evidence to disprove the missing link issue. I even posted a YT link later on.

 

[Thundercrack85]

I do think the out of Africa model may be falling apart though. Or more specifically, the idea that modern humans evolved in Africa, and then moved out.

Creationists will have a field day with that.

 

[Teelie]

If we have sharks why do we still have other fish? If we have New York why do we have Toronto?

Damned good question there. Because we can't have Bloomberg and Ford in the same place?