Just some examples I heard on the internet over the years which prompted me to make this post: "Evolution is just a theory" (the most annoying one of all) "If we evolved from monkeys why are there still monkeys" "I find it hard to believe we came from slime" "First a rock decided to turn into a fish which turned into a frog which turned into a monkey which turned into a man. Yeah, makes a looot of sense" "if you want to believe your grandpa was a monkey fine by me." "if humans evolved from other animals why aren't we evolving anymore" "Do you really expect me to believe some explosion created everything we see today?" (has nothing to do with evolution) etc. etc.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Heard ALL of those. Some of them are from Kent Hovind, right? Or if not, then the people who heard them probably got them from him. He's the guy who's famous for saying "Do you really believe that you're great great great great great great great great great great great great great great grandpa..was soup?" followed by a can of Campbells with 'Grandpa?' next to it. Talk about oversimplification. Of that list, the first two definitely annoy me the most.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

I'd like to put it out there, evolution is a theory. Throw some hate my way I don't care, but evolution is just as much a theory as religious views. Yes, unlike religious views, most of evolution actually makes sense and has evidence to it. But it is possible in the unknown of our universe that a unicorn named rapecock was the lord of the universe and once upon a time created humans and left the evidence of evolution from single cell organisms to monkeys to humans even though it didn't happen just to screw with us. Is this true? Very very very... VERY unlikely, but the fact that we can't know it isn't true is what makes evolution, by definition, a theory. of course this slips much more into the philosophy of theory rather than logic but the point still stands.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

It's a scientific theory, which is different from a theory.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Valid point and I agree with most of what you said, but I don't know if the religious views could be called a theory... I think wild speculation is a little bit more of an appropriate label. Also, gravity is still only a theory, and that seems to be commonly accepted as truth.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Yeah but that's just semantics. I think what the OP means on that "it's just a theory thing" means that when a lot of people say that, their tone is saying "it's just a theory, so we shouldn't believe it" or "shouldn't put a lot of stock in it" - evolution was never taught to me as FACT, I mean...the chapter in the book was called "the theory of evolution" - it's just that! But it's a scientific theory with tons of evidence, a massive weight of the scientific community working on it, modifying, updating and supporting it. IMO, it's a theory more worth following than the crackpot ones put forward by religion

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Religion relies on revealed truths, many of which are not verifyable. I would suggest that anyone who says "evolution is just a theory" has made up their mind on the topic and will not be swayed by any amount of evidence. Evolution is a theory in the sense that gravity is just a theory. It is a well established and accepted scientific theory that does a very good job of explaining things. The rest of your argument is just silliness. Your "a unicorn is screwing with us" theory is not the same kind of theory. Using your definition, when you wake up and get out of bed, it's just a theory that your feet will hit the floor.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

John, I'm glad you accept evolution and all the evidence that comes with it, but there is still a clear distinction between a theory and a *scientific* theory. Evolution is both fact AND theory. How? Because in science, a theory is an explanation of natural phenomena backed by substantial evidence, not a postulation. Take gravity for example. There is a law of gravity, called Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation, which states that gravity exists between objects with mass and gives equations for predicting gravitational force. At the same time, Einstein's Theory of Relativity attempts to explain why gravity occurs (objects with mass distort spacetime to a certain extent). Both of these concepts are almost universally accepted by scientists. But Relativity will always remain a theory even IF it is proven to be a fact, because in science "theory" simply means "explanation". A theory can never be promoted to a law even if it is proven.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

I love it when people think that they have single-handedly disproved evolution when they point out that there are still monkeys. Yeah, all of those scientists got it totally wrong. Can't believe it took us this long to figure that out.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

It is annoying when people blindly reject it, but some people reject the theory even after doing their research. Just sayin

by Anonymous 11 years ago

I agree with the statement but the same is true for most theories and belief systems. How many different religions do you feel like you /really/ understand? To the point where you bothered to do research or ask someone about your questions instead of deciding it was wrong or not for you after seeing one or two things that you didn't like? But no, with hundreds of different religions and ideas and theories out there, I'm pretty sure you got lucky and ended up learning about the correct one within two or three tries, assuming you weren't just born into it from the beginning.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

I agree, with this post. But also consider that there are a ton of people who ACCEPT evolution and also don't have a basic understanding of it either.

by Anonymous 11 years ago