# Does anybody believe in Evolution ?? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 17, 2004, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-believe-in-evolution/280367 "2004-12-17T16:51:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JustWrightin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a87d85/32.png) [@JustWrightin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustWrightin)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-believe-in-evolution/280367/1 "2004-12-17T16:51:54Z")
I was taught Evolution at school completely brain washed with the stuff from i think 3rd grade all the way to 10th grade off and on, If you actually think about it there is no possible way that. There could be such a thing, Can anyone prove to me that there is, That nothing became something with a big boom of nothing. Yes that has to be more logical then some people. Also all this bacteria becoming animals and animals forming into more sophisticated animals in which their case we are animals. I really rather not be called a close relative of an ape. Also if noone can prove me other wise, then wouldn’t this be your belief ? Then why should i be forced to have to sit through it with no options to my belief? well anyways if any of you guys would like to try to tackle this question please try to. Thank You for reading… ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-believe-in-evolution/280367/2 "2004-12-17T17:01:58Z")
To me it’s the most sensible theory yet. I have no problem with being told that genetically I am closely related to an ape. And when _I_ think about it (or read about it) it is quite easy to believe it. Afterall human beings have demonstrated the theory speeded up by breeding and domesticating animals. It has been proved beyond a theory. Remember it has taken _millions_ of years to get this far. It’s not as if it’s happening in the space of a few hundred. It seems fine for superior traits to win out via survival of the fittest over such a HUGE period of time. I haven’t read up on it enough to actually say I believe it is the only true origin of us and close the subject, but what I have gathered over time has led me to find it more plausible than creationism. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-believe-in-evolution/280367/3 "2004-12-17T17:03:20Z")
> [@JustWrightin](#): > > Then why should i be forced to have to sit through it with no options to my belief? Because evolution is science, and creationism isn’t. There are hard, observable facts that support evolution. There are none for creationism. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-believe-in-evolution/280367/4 "2004-12-17T17:04:46Z")
Your OP is a little hard to respond to. What specifically about evolution do you find objectionable? Do you think it’s scientifically unsound, or does the idea that you and apes may share a common bloodline offend you, or both? ---
**Author:** ![davenportavenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@davenportavenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davenportavenger)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-believe-in-evolution/280367/5 "2004-12-17T17:06:30Z")
> [@JustWrightin](#): > > I really rather not be called a close relative of an ape. Science has proven that we share over 96% of our DNA with chimpanzees. Whether you want to believe it or not is your prerogative, but it’s pretty well proven that we are relatives with apes. Some of us are closer than others though. ---
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-believe-in-evolution/280367/6 "2004-12-17T17:11:02Z")
> [@JustWrightin](#): > > nothing became something with a big boom of nothing. Natural selection says nothing about the origin of life. ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-believe-in-evolution/280367/7 "2004-12-17T17:12:43Z")
Well, dude, it’s a _theory_. That means it’s out there, and you can do what you like to disprove it. Let us know what you find out; in the meantime, based on quite a bit of study, I find it convincing. ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-believe-in-evolution/280367/8 "2004-12-17T17:15:18Z")
BTW, the big bang has nothing to do with the theory of evolution. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-believe-in-evolution/280367/9 "2004-12-17T17:18:22Z")
And… the Big Bang… What came before it? Nothing, because there is no time ‘before’ the big bang in which the concept of ‘before’ can exist. It’s like saying what’s further north of the north poll. There is no answer. It’s like that (only a heck of a lot more complicated) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-believe-in-evolution/280367/10 "2004-12-17T17:18:46Z")
> [@kelly5078](#): > > Well, dude, it’s a _theory_. That means it’s out there, and you can do what you like to disprove it. Let us know what you find out; in the meantime, based on quite a bit of study, I find it convincing. Evolution is a _fact_. The theory is how it actually works. So far the theory of how it works is holding up very well, and proofs are verifyable and repeatable. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Clanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@Small\_Clanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Clanger)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-believe-in-evolution/280367/11 "2004-12-17T17:20:18Z")
A common anti-evolution argument is that it can’t explain the development of something as complex as the eye. [Here’s one version of how it can](http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/01/1/l_011_01.html) Eyes have evolved several times in utterly different species. Vertebrate eyes are obviously not the same as insect eyes but both versions function for vision. And this ape business. It’s not so much that we are related to apes, than that we _are_ apes. There is a brilliant diagram (which I can’t find on the web!) where human, chimp, gorilla and orangutan DNA is layed out side by side, chromosome by chromosome. A great deal of it is identical. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-believe-in-evolution/280367/12 "2004-12-17T17:27:08Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > … north poll… ‘poll’?! I use the internet too much :rolleyes: (‘pole’) ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-believe-in-evolution/280367/13 "2004-12-17T17:35:57Z")
BTW, no one should _believe_ in evolution. We don’t have, to anymore than you have to believe that the Earth is round. There is so much evidence, and it is so logical, that if you only open your eyes you’ll see it to. If there was nearly as much evidence for the existence of any particular deity, there would be no rational atheists. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-believe-in-evolution/280367/14 "2004-12-17T17:54:49Z")
If you’ve been taught Evolution since the 3rd grade and you still don’t see how anyone could believe in such a thing, you must not have been taught very well. To be fair to the OP, the theory (or theories—scientists don’t all agree on all the particulars) of Evolution does make some pretty startling claims that can be pretty hard to swallow, especially if they aren’t explained well. And it doesn’t really help when people say (as some have in this thread), _It’s scientific. It’s a proven fact. It’s the only logical thing. Just accept it. If you don’t believe in Evolution, you’re a backwards brainless unsophisticated antiscientific superstitious illiterate yahoo._ I can grok Survival of the Fittest, and how a species can, over time, evolve to become better suited to environment. What’s harder to wrap my imagination around is how one species can evolve into another—especially when we don’t see the intermediate steps, and the lengths of time involved are well beyond human experience. I’m not saying I don’t believe in Evolution, just that I can sympathize with some of those who have trouble with the idea. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-believe-in-evolution/280367/15 "2004-12-17T18:01:55Z")
Given sufficient time, the improbable becomes inevitable. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-believe-in-evolution/280367/16 "2004-12-17T18:04:14Z")
Man, I did a long search for all the previous threads on the subject, linked to about 10 of them, and then the hampsters ate my post! (Friggin’ hampsters :mad: [sub]why i oughtta…[/sub] ) maybe some one else can do a search since our guest can’t and I don’t have the energy to do it again. Here is a site that may answer any specific questions you have: [http://www.talkorigins.org/](http://www.talkorigins.org/) Here is one thread with a number of reading recommendations:[thread]285629[/thread] Briefly, evolution is a fact. You can deny it if you want, just like you can deny oxygen and gravity, but it won’t go away. There are theories about evolution, and these theories change as our knowledge changes, but the basic brute fact of evolution remains. Also, I think you should be more specific with your questions. What exactly do you find implausible? And, no offense, but you may want to work on your grammer and style a bit. It’s kind of hard to tease a coherent question out of your OP. ---
**Author:** ![davenportavenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@davenportavenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davenportavenger)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-believe-in-evolution/280367/17 "2004-12-17T18:10:57Z")
> [@Thudlow Boink](#): > > What’s harder to wrap my imagination around is how one species can evolve into another—especially when we don’t see the intermediate steps, and the lengths of time involved are well beyond human experience. Yes, they should explain this more fully in schools. I can see how some kids wouldn’t grasp that we didn’t evolve from modern apes but instead share a common ancestor that is now extinct. And yes, the idea that we did evolve from modern apes sounds stupid, because it is. **JustWrightin** , have you ever seen the evolutionary chart that shows the different branches and all the extinct links between the species? I think you have the idea that evolution is like a ladder or something, which it isn’t. Bacteria just doesn’t “become” an animal. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-believe-in-evolution/280367/18 "2004-12-17T18:12:44Z")
> [@JustWrightin](#): > > I really rather not be called a close relative of an ape. Not only are you a close relative of an ape, but chimpanzees are more closely related to humans than they are to any other living species – the next closest to chimpanzees is gorillas. So you’re more like a chimanzee than a gorilla is, you great ape (using the term “great ape” in its scientific sense, to mean Pongidae and Hominidae). ---
**Author:** ![rippingtons\_fan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rippingtons_fan/32/11767_2.png) [@rippingtons\_fan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rippingtons_fan)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-believe-in-evolution/280367/19 "2004-12-17T18:13:06Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > And… the Big Bang… What came before it? Nothing, because there is no time ‘before’ the big bang in which the concept of ‘before’ can exist. It’s like saying what’s further north of the north poll. There is no answer. It’s like that (only a heck of a lot more complicated) Science can explain many things, but to say that there was nothing before the big bang has always seemed like kind of a cop-out. How can something arise out of nothing? Science should at least _attempt_ to find an answer as to how something (actually everything) came out of nothing, because that appears to be what happened! There was apparently no cause but there was one hell of an effect. Things don’t just happen, but if they do, then science should at least try to find some kind of physical mechanism to account for what gave the Big Bang its big bang. Maybe nothing IS something! ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-believe-in-evolution/280367/20 "2004-12-17T18:13:18Z")
> [@JustWrightin](#): > > I really rather not be called a close relative of an ape. Then it may please you to know that you’re not a close relative of an ape. You are an ape, just like the rest of us. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-believe-in-evolution/280367.md?page=2)