Friday, August 11, 2006

Evolution, it's just a theory

In a follow up to I have no chimpanzees in my familiy, I offer another National Geographic article that asks the question Was Darwin Wrong? We already know that most of the country, at least 50%, thinks evolution is false based on religious grounds alone. Many reject evolution while saying, its just a theory. This statement shows a depth of ignorance that is breathtaking. A scientific theory is not the same as a pet theory about who will win the Super Bowl. A scientific theory is the highest order of truth. To quote the author:
...you might even be tempted to say that it's "just" a theory. In the same sense, relativity as described by Albert Einstein is "just" a theory. The notion that Earth orbits around the sun rather than vice versa, offered by Copernicus in 1543, is a theory. Continental drift is a theory. The existence, structure, and dynamics of atoms? Atomic theory. Even electricity is a theoretical construct, involving electrons, which are tiny units of charged mass that no one has ever seen. Each of these theories is an explanation that has been confirmed to such a degree, by observation and experiment, that knowledgeable experts accept it as fact. That's what scientists mean when they talk about a theory: not a dreamy and unreliable speculation, but an explanatory statement that fits the evidence.

Love that science - hate that ignorance!

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