Comments on: Evolution vs. Intelligent Design

By: La domo de karotoj » Kreismo kaj evoluismo… refoje

La domo de karotoj » Kreismo kaj evoluismo… refoje — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 03:08:11 +0000

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By: The Rational Thinker

The Rational Thinker — Thu, 18 Aug 2005 03:08:51 +0000

As a follow up to Benjamin's post, PZ Myers discusses evolution as "theory".

By: Ajaja

Ajaja — Sun, 14 Aug 2005 10:08:05 +0000

And that’s exactly why I say intelligent design should never be taught in a science class or considered part of science. With what you said, theories are refined once new evidence is found. How can you refine something that there is no evidence for, only faith? Something that can never be questioned, because every answer goes along the lines of “God intends it to be that way.”

I think I overstepped somewhere in my initial ramblings about theories. Luckily, someone around here is a little more clear headed and can put thoughts to paper, sorta-speak.

By: Benjamin Geiger

Benjamin Geiger — Sun, 14 Aug 2005 05:08:17 +0000

Evolution will always be a “theory”. That’s what it is.

The problem is that scientists and laypersons have different interpretations for the word “theory”. To the layperson, “in theory” means that the concept being discussed is untested and not much more than a guess.

However, to a scientist, a “theory” is a system of facts that combine to explain phenomena. Theories are virtually never completely thrown out; they may be refined, but even the older theories hold much truth. For example, look at Newtonian physics: while it was replaced by Einstein’s theories of relativity, the Newtonian theory still accurately predicts the behavior of particles in most situations. Einstein’s theories were a refinement of Newton’s, making it accurate in so-called “corner cases”.

The same applies to evolution. Pure Darwinistic evolution (natural selection, et cetera) has been refined and brought closer to the truth through successive theories. However, no matter how accurate the theories become, they will always be theories. The truth is that nothing is 100% proven. If it were, we would have no need for science at all. However, evolution has the weight of decades’ worth of evidence behind it.