lyion wrote:Right now way too much is 'assumed'.
A lot of Evolution is proving that the processes that exist in nature today, existed 1000s if not millions and billions of years ago as well.
For example: Carbon Dating. How so? Well, the biggest fundamental flaw of Carbon Dating is that we assume that the level of Carbon 14 was in the same Ratio 1000s of years ago as it is today. What does this mean? Well, today we know (and have for a few decades) what the ratio if carbon 14 is to carbon 12, since we know what this ratio is, and we know the rate of isotropic decay (the rate at which radioactive substances break down into their components) we can determine how old an object is by the ratio of carbon 14 to carbon 12, this is a very simple mathematical equation which anyone can do with a high school education, feel free to do a google. Also, another possible flaw of Carbon Dating is that we assume that the rate of radioactive decay is a constant, we assume this because we have not noticed any variance when it comes to radioactive decay in over 100 years of studying radioactive isotopes.
Ok, so, if we assume that the rate of radioactive decay is constant (nothing has ever shown it not to be) and the ratio of carbon 14 to carbon 12 is constant through out time which is the BIG assumption, however, like radioactive decay nothing has ever shown it not to be since its inception (while carbon dating is "new" there are biological samples whose origin is known and whose age is known that is sufficently old that we can test carbon dating on, such as roman boat samples, pompeii artifacts, egyptian mummies, artifacts, the list goes on and on), then we know how old an object is. (Ok, there, now that carbon dating is explained we can move on).
Ok, so, now we know that the process of radioactive decay is constant and can be measured (that is all carbon dating is actually), we can now look at processes that are in nature today and assume they happened in the past as well. Such as Evolution... we know know that things evolve. We knew that 100s of years ago with selective breeding of horses and dogs, we would pick those traits we wanted and breed those animals with others, other examples include corn, cats, etc... corn is a really good example because we have examples of corn dating (from archelogical digs, etc) back 1000s of years that is small, yet in younger digs we see corn that is larger in size, etc. So we know that corn evolved to be what it is today. Now, however, we run into a big problem because, corn was selected for by an outside intelligence (or outside factor, depends on how you look at it and/or what you are trying to prove) as opposed to "natural" outside factors. Not that either make a difference since both prove evolution.
Ok, so, we know evolution is occuring today, viruses, corn, horses, dogs, even people (when indians and white people mated their children were on average 6 inches taller then the parents), we also know people are evolving when we look at organs within our own bodies that do nothing, such as tonsils, appendix, etc... in fact most doctors say that we as a species will lose our appendix entirely before too long. Therefore we can conclusively say evolution is occuring. Also, it is important to realize something, Evolution is the cornerstone of modern biology. If you do not believe in Evolution, then you do not believe in modern biology. But how many biologists do we have here? Oh, right none.
Now, since we know evolution is occuring today, we can assume that the process that happened yesterday and today also happened 1000s, millions and billions of years ago. It only makes sense right? Oh, right, for the creationists it does not make sense because the world is only around 10000 years old (lets ignore science, astronomy, geology, ice ages, common sense and intelligence for the moment, shall we?) of course, the fact that we have direct evidence of human existance predating 10000 years ago (cave paintings and other evidence in Europe, Middle East, China as well as North America, South America and Australia, some of which is as old as 35,000 years). Since, for the creationist, the world is only 10000 years old, evolution could not have happened.
The other old tired arguement that attempts to disprove evolution is the odds factor. What are the odds of all of this happening? 1 in a billion? More? There is a problem with all those numbers: They are meaningless. Why? Because someone made them up. It's the biggest flaw in the Anti-Evolutionist theory. The numbers are made up. In fact, there is no scientific way to get the numbers that they used, better, there is no methodology that would allow the numbers to be even guessed at. Figuring out the odds of human life developing independently on another planet would be something that only a person with precognition could do. In other words, the person that came up with the odds of human life developing on Earth played God and made up their numbers. The bigger idea to get out of evolution is that it is a process. If someone asked me, what are the odds of intelligent life evolving independantly on another planet? If that was the question, then my answer would be 1 (or, for you non statisticians, that translates to 100%). If you ask me what are the odds of "human" like life developing on another planet, my answer would be: No idea, it is not a knowable number, there are far too many variables. In actuallity, it is a dumb question to ask. There are far too many variables that can not be accounted for. It would be like trying to model paleoclimates: Its an educated guess at best, which is hardly scientific.
However, all that being said, Evolution is fact, not fiction. When Darwin proposed the theory of evolution (Why is it a theory? Same reason Realitivity is a theory and if you dont know the answer to that question, stop talking about science, you know... nothing) he stated matter of factly that some things would be lost in the fossil record because the fossil record was incomplete. Today, we assume that birds evolved from dinosaurs, since skeletal structure and make up are similiar between the two, we have also found some transition fossils, they look like dinosaurs but have feathers, in China and now in Africa.
I guess the real problem that most people have is that they want their world to be simple, IE: God did this and that is the way it is. These people need their lives to be simple, it makes them go through it easier. It also allows them to not be afraid at night because they know they will live forever in some place where every dream is catered to (Fantasy Island anyone?) Others dont mind if the world is complicated and that the answers are not so simple. Others still can not accept that, if there is a god, he is far more powerful than can be imagined.... Think about it, he could have caused the single spark of life to start on Earth and allowed evolution to take its course... of course, since god is omnipotent and clairvoyent (is he?) he knew exactly when, where and how to start life to get what we have today.