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Anonymous Tue 07 Mar 19:57:47 2017 No.8729295 View Reply Original Report

Quoted By: >>8729309 >>8729339 >>8729363 >>8729371 >>8729405 >>8729439 >>8729455 >>8729487 >>8729529

One of my house mates is arguing that evolution is just a theory, there's no actual proof it happened. The outcome of this situation depends entirely on whether or not I lose my mind from the mental exhaustion of trying to understand this fucking nonsense.
What do I do?

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 07 Mar 2017 20:04:28 No.8729308 Report

Quoted By: >>8729323

Explain why a theory is different from a hypothesis. Then point to the fossil record.

After that, your work is done, it's pretty much on him to either not be a retard or continue acting retarded. It's not like you have to engage.

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 07 Mar 2017 20:04:29 No.8729309 Report

Quoted By: >>8729439

>>8729295
Don't argue with an idiot.

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 07 Mar 2017 20:11:15 No.8729323 Report

Quoted By: >>8729326

>>8729308
Yeah, I don't have to, but naturally I do.
We all moved in together, and so I feel compelled to want them to know better. I try to communicate as calmly as I can, but it's fucking almost impossible sometimes when you feel like everyone is against you.

I-along with my house mates-am majoring in music, so I tend to be often be surrounded by profoundly religious people; or people who just don't care about science, or even history. It's infuriating,

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 07 Mar 2017 20:12:17 No.8729326 Report

Quoted By:

>>8729323
>I tend to be often be
Brain fart.
I tend to often be*

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 07 Mar 2017 20:17:13 No.8729339 Report

Quoted By: >>8729347 >>8729459

>>8729295
evolution being "true" or not is irrelevant. its a model thats accurate enough to make predictions about certain phenomena and it yields useful applications in industry.

creationist models have zero industrial/commercial applications, and until that changes evolution will be the status quo in the scientific community. even if evolution isn't 100% correct, its still better than throwing our hands up in the air and saying "god did it!"

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 07 Mar 2017 20:20:50 No.8729346 Report

Quoted By: >>8729473

Evolution is proven to be true, it has been shown on live tv aswell.

However, what is not proven is the origin of the species, it is not proven that monkeys evolved into humans, or well we are not 100% sure how it occured. With that said, it remains a theory but we have strong indications that monkeys evolved into humans and we already know that monkeys are our ancestors.

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 07 Mar 2017 20:20:50 No.8729347 Report

Quoted By: >>8729357

>>8729339
What are these industrial/commercial applications you speak of?

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 07 Mar 2017 20:26:18 No.8729357 Report

Quoted By: >>8729473

>>8729347
speaking only from my experience in the oil and gas industry, evolutionary theory is the backbone of relative dating methods and the concept of benchmark fossils. i'm sure a biologist or dedicated geology guy could give you more examples.

this may seem like a niche example, but thats all evolution was ever intended to be. if it wasn't for contrarians and the scientifically illiterate getting all worked up about largely philosophical concepts, evolution would be like one chapter in a college level geology course.

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 07 Mar 2017 20:29:32 No.8729363 Report

Quoted By:

>>8729295
Tell them evolution is a fact and natural selection is the theory

It's the way evolutionary biologists from Charles Darwin to Steven Jay Gould have been explaining it

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 07 Mar 2017 20:34:07 No.8729371 Report

Quoted By:

>>8729295
>One of my house mates is arguing that evolution is just a theory, there's no actual proof it happened.

Your house mate is correct, even if it's for the wrong reasons. I recommend understanding what science and theories actually entail before bickering at people about them.

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 07 Mar 2017 20:42:30 No.8729388 Report

Quoted By:

>just a theory

A "theory" is one small step away from becoming incontrovertible fact and law. It's based off of a large body of evidence supporting it and (as it stands) nothing to falsify it.

It isn't a hypothesis, or a guess, or something random like a religious ideology, it is basically truth, like gravity.

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 07 Mar 2017 20:49:17 No.8729405 Report

Quoted By:

>>8729295

Explain to him that intelligent design is God failing to mimic evolution.

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 07 Mar 2017 21:01:42 No.8729439 Report

Quoted By:

>>8729295
>not I lose my mind from the mental exhaustion of trying to understand this fucking nonsense
>>8729309
>>Don't argue with an idiot.

>not refuting the central point

ISHYGDDT

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 07 Mar 2017 21:09:54 No.8729455 Report

Quoted By:

>>8729295
>One of my house mates is arguing that evolution is just a theory,

Minus the "just," it is true that evolution is a theory. I am sure what "theory" means in science has been adequately explained already in this thread.

>there's no actual proof it happened.

There is ample proof that evolution happened, if he wanted to argue that Darwinian Natural Selection is not the mechanism, he could possibly make a case but unless he is a Wile E. Coyote level Super-Genius, I tend to doubt it.

> The outcome of this situation depends entirely on whether or not I lose my mind from the mental exhaustion of trying to understand this fucking nonsense.
>What do I do?
Honestly? Agree to disagree and talk about something else. You can't fix stupid.

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 07 Mar 2017 21:11:15 No.8729459 Report

Quoted By: >>8729488

>>8729339
>evolution being "true" or not is irrelevant. its a model thats accurate enough to make predictions about certain phenomena

OK, agree with this.

>and it yields useful applications in industry.
Orly?

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 07 Mar 2017 21:14:16 No.8729473 Report

Quoted By:

>>8729346
>we already know that monkeys are our ancestors.

See, it is not your enemies that do you the most damage but your friends.

>>8729357
>relative dating methods and the concept of benchmark fossils.
Does not require evolutionary theory, and particularly does not require Darwinian theory, to be useful. Benchmark fossils agreeing with the stratigraphy works, however the fossils got there.

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 07 Mar 2017 21:17:36 No.8729487 Report

Quoted By:

>>8729295
It is a theory you klutz, lol.

But just because it's a theory, it doesn't mean it's not real.

Instead of talking badly to your friend, explain to him that there is fossil evidence, DNA evidence, and even embryo evidence that evolution does exist.

Your friend is right though that it hasn't been proven or shown in real life, but there is a lot of evidence that supports the idea that it did really happen.

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 07 Mar 2017 21:17:53 No.8729488 Report

Quoted By: >>8729509

>>8729459
>Orly?
rly

evolution is the current explanation for why organisms found in the fossil record didn't exist at the same time. without this assumption, relative dating wouldn't work.

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 07 Mar 2017 21:27:31 No.8729509 Report

Quoted By:

>>8729488
>without this assumption, relative dating wouldn't work.

Yes it would, because you can build the stratigraphy, notice that index fossils happen, and use them without any theoretical framework as to why the fossils are where they are.

Smith recognized the utility of index fossils around 1793, Darwin published his theory in 1859.

Please note -- I am not arguing against evolution, I am arguing that your particular example is in error.

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 07 Mar 2017 21:34:39 No.8729529 Report

Quoted By: >>8729708

>>8729295
>there's no actual proof it happened

There's plenty of evidence it happened. The farther back we go in the fossil record, the simpler the organisms get. On top of that, the more basic the function of the gene, the more conservation of that gene there is across all Kingdoms of life.

Anyway, the theory is that evolution happens by natural selection.

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 07 Mar 2017 23:21:04 No.8729708 Report

Quoted By: >>8730215

>>8729529
>The farther back we go in the fossil record, the simpler the organisms get.

Don't do this op. Don't ruin your freshly educated house mate, it's not a linear line of complexity.

Ask him what he thinks happened, and come at it from his view, disproving what he says and then show him evidence to the contrary.

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 07 Mar 2017 23:25:18 No.8729714 Report

Quoted By:

Actual evidence of evolution happening right now:
Superbugs
Tusk-less elephants

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 08 Mar 2017 03:19:29 No.8730215 Report

Quoted By:

>>8729708
>Ask him what he thinks happened, and come at it from his view, disproving what he says and then show him evidence to the contrary.
This.
If you're into spending the rest of the time you know him discussing this topic. Creationist (I'm assuming that's hi view) will listen only for when to jump in and dislodge your thought process. They don't actually want to hear your logic. It will never end.

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