Having trouble believing in evolution? Do you think that it sounds too ridiculous or has been disproved? Do you find yourself using the word 'evolutionists' even though you wouldn't use a word like 'gravitationalist'? Then you have probably over heard a few myths and misconceptions about evolution. Most of the circulating myths are purely religious based propaganda and a couple are honest misconceptions.
Just a Theory
In laymen terms a 'theory' is something of which is just a guess. In scientific terms a 'theory' is an explanation based on empirical evidence of how/why something occurred or works. The scientific equivalent to the laymen use of the word 'theory' would be the word 'hypothesis'. If something is "just a hypothesis" then we would not have reason to accept it as anything more than just a guess. Saying that something is "just" a theory means it is a proven explanation. The 'theory of evolution' is the explanation of how the fact of evolution occurs just as the 'theory of gravity' explains how the fact of gravity occurs.
Nebraska Man & the Pig Tooth
The apologist Ray Comfort claims that scientists made up an entire species of human based on a tooth, that they gave it a scientific name, and that the tooth turned out to be just the tooth of a pig. He makes this claim in an attempt to make people distrust any scientists who support evolution.
In 1917 a pig tooth (which looks a lot like human teeth) was thought to be that of a potential human ancestor and a scientist did reserve a name for this possible new species. A British magazine even posted an article with an illustration of this possible ancestor.
What Ray Comfort fails to get right is that no one claimed it was actually a new species of man and it was never used as an example of evidence for evolution. Even in the main article of the magazine containing the illustration was a quote clarifying that the sketch was simply "to convey some idea of the possibilities suggested by this discovery. As we know nothing of the creature's form, his [the illustrator] reconstruction is merely the expression of an artist's brilliant imaginative genius."
Once the tooth was properly examined it was quickly discard as the tooth of an extinct pig-like animal. You can learn more at talkorigins.org.
Are Scientists Switching To Creationism?
Almost every single scientist in fields related to the history of life agree that evolution is a fact. A 1991 Gallup poll of Americans found that only about 5% of scientists identified themselves as creationists. However, this number includes those working in fields not related to life origins (such as computer scientists, mechanical engineers, etc.). Taking into account only those working in the relevant fields of earth and life sciences, there are about 480,000 scientists, but only about 700 believe in creationism or consider it a valid theory (Robinson 1995). This means that less than 0.15 percent of relevant scientists believe in creationism. And that is just in the United States, which has more creationists than any other industrialized country. In other countries, the number of relevant scientists who accept creationism drops to less than one tenth of one percent.
Below is a video response to the apologetics organization The Discovery Institute and their claim of scientists who reject evolution. The video is by DonExodus2
Isn't Evolution A Matter Of Faith Too?
It does not require any faith to accept evolution as truth. The theory of evolution is a scientific explanation based on empirical evidence. Nothing in science requires faith or is a matter of belief, if it did then it would not be science.
Why Are There Still Apes?
Some ask, "If humans evolved from apes why are there still apes?" As the theory of evolution explains, humans did not evolve from modern apes. They simply share a common ancestor, a species that no longer exists.
Adolf Hitler & Darwinism
Many apologists blame 'darwinism' and the teachings of evolution for Hitler and the holocaust. They do this in hopes of making parents afraid of letting their children learn a field of science that discredits religious texts. Whether or not the knowledge of evolution inspired the actions of Hitler does not by any means change the fact that evolution is true. Regardless, Darwin's teachings of evolution did not inspire Hitler.
Hitler's beliefs were opposite to Darwin's. Darwin made popular the knowledge that nature undergoes a selection process that is NOT goal-oriented and that evolution FAVORS diversity. Hitler's actions were closely related to eugenics which was made popular by not Darwin, but Herbert Spencer. It is from this, not Darwin, that we get the phrase "survival of the fittest." Darwin did not equate evolution with upwardly-mobile progress. Eugenics is based on Lamarckism which is the discredited idea (replaced by Darwin's ideas) that an organism can pass on characteristics that it acquired during its lifetime to its offsprings. Unlike what Darwin helped teach us about evolution, Lamarckism is progressive and goal-oriented.
Crocoduck
The apologists Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron claim that if evolution were true we should see something like a half-duck half-crocodile. Such a find would actually disprove evolution since ducks are not ancestors of crocodiles. More importantly one specie does not evolve to become a particular different species and species also do not evolve in full segments. New species are also defined simply when genetic differences are too great for two organisms to successfully reproduce.
Micro & Macro Evolution
The only difference between Micro and Macro evolution is time. Macro and Micro evolution have little to nothing to do with appearances. Changes are accumulated to the DNA every time it is passed on during reproduction. If the accumulated changes on a genetic level causes organisms to be unable to reproduce with each other they are defined as separate species. These changes are a case of Macro evolution. If the changes do not make the DNA too different to prevent the organisms from reproducing with each other it is a case of Micro evolution.
Micro-Evolution = changes within a species Macro-Evolution = changers across multiple species Species = Organisms that are able to breed among themselves
Can't Explain Where Life Came From
True, the explanation of how life evolved cannot explain where life came from just as the theory of gravity can not explain how an object which is falling was first created. The theory of evolution has nothing to do with where life come from, only with how that life evolves. There are however various explanations to how life most likely formed through natural means incase you were wondering.
Random Design
Apologist Fred Hoyle claims that evolution is as likely as Boeing 747 being built by a tornado passing through a junkyard. This claim is based on the misconception that evolution is a strictly random process. Although the changes that occur in DNA during reproduction are random the designing process is not random. The evolution of species is guided through a process known as natural selection.
Still have questions? All other answers can be found at these two great websites...
The apologist Ray Comfort claims that scientists made up an entire species of human based on a tooth, that they gave it a scientific name, and that the tooth turned out to be just the tooth of a pig. He makes this claim in an attempt to make people distrust any scientists who support evolution.
The apologists Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron claim that if evolution were true we should see something like a half-duck half-crocodile. Such a find would actually disprove evolution since ducks are not ancestors of crocodiles. More importantly one specie does not evolve to become a particular different species and species also do not evolve in full segments. New species are also defined simply when genetic differences are too great for two organisms to successfully reproduce.
