Reply to: Why does evolution matter?

[UglyBetty]

Did you try googling for examples of speciation?

A dog can never become a cat, if this happened then the theory of evolution would be disproved.

How do you make a cat go woof?

[MyUserName]

not at all. The reason is that there is a lot of time and so few speciations. We would be incredibly lucky to see a dog turn onto a mouse right now in 2014.
It doesnt harm the theory (in my mind) but it does mean we dont have the hard facts to convince the unconvinced

Did you try googling for examples of speciation?

A dog can never become a cat, if this happened then the theory of evolution would be disproved.
Perhaps you should also google for how evolution works?

There are enough hard facts about evolution to convince the scientific community and none of them have been able to overturn it.

[NotAllThere]

I think he was joking.

Indeed. Inspired by late night reading of H.P. Lovecraft.

[Unix]

That's because evolution is a fairy tale, invented by atheists to scare their children away from religion. Also, the scientific method is just humanity's futile attempt to overlay a veneer of sanity, order and meaning onto an a-teleological, chaotic and hostile universe.

[SpontaneousOrder]

not at all. The reason is that there is a lot of time and so few speciations. We would be incredibly lucky to see a dog turn onto a mouse right now in 2014.
It doesnt harm the theory (in my mind) but it does mean we dont have the hard facts to convince the unconvinced

That's what I was getting at. Poorly. Kind of.

But i think it's more than that:

We don't get Species A ------------>millions of years------------------>B

We get A-->x1-->x2-->x3-->x4-->x5 -->B where A is much like x1 through 5, and B is much like x5 through 1, yet A and B are distinct.

[EternalOptimist]

If you are looking for absolute certainty in science you are barking up the wrong tree.
The best that can be said is that the overwhelming evidence supports the theory.

If you want certainty try blind faith, no observable evidence is required there...

is your toast only done on one side ?

[Toastiness]

What I am saying, is that we have never witnessed this, so its a theory , as opposed to a proven fact

If you are looking for absolute certainty in science you are barking up the wrong tree.
The best that can be said is that the overwhelming evidence supports the theory.

If you want certainty try blind faith, no observable evidence is required there...

[SpontaneousOrder]

errmm Darwin wasn't an atheist
Anyway if you find it easier to believe in fairytales written by some sheepf*@kers in the desert over 2000 years ago than scientific theories developed by scientists who spend their live studying and updating their theories and finding proof everywhere, well good luck, hope you won't be disappointed when you die and there's nothing (oh wait you can't be disappointed when there's nothing, too bad)

I think he was joking.

[EternalOptimist]

Maybe it's just for the same reasons that we never see Monday become Tuesday. At some point some sub-species of dog may be seen as distinct from the original dog - but you have to compare them in a wide enough scope. Just like you have to look from a wide enough perspective to see Monday become Tuesday.

not at all. The reason is that there is a lot of time and so few speciations. We would be incredibly lucky to see a dog turn onto a mouse right now in 2014.
It doesnt harm the theory (in my mind) but it does mean we dont have the hard facts to convince the unconvinced

[Eirikur]

That's because evolution is a fairy tale, invented by atheists to scare their children away from religion. Also, the scientific method is just humanity's futile attempt to overlay a veneer of sanity, order and meaning onto an a-teleological, chaotic and hostile universe.

errmm Darwin wasn't an atheist
Anyway if you find it easier to believe in fairytales written by some sheepf*@kers in the desert over 2000 years ago than scientific theories developed by scientists who spend their live studying and updating their theories and finding proof everywhere, well good luck, hope you won't be disappointed when you die and there's nothing (oh wait you can't be disappointed when there's nothing, too bad)

[Eirikur]

Maybe it's just for the same reasons that we never see Monday become Tuesday. At some point some sub-species of dog may be seen as distinct from the original dog - but you have to compare them in a wide enough scope. Just like you have to look from a wide enough perspective to see Monday become Tuesday.

Bears are related to dogs (and probably seals as well)

[NotAllThere]

All the examples I have seen are 'a different type of dog', 'a different type of bacteria', 'a different type of goatsbeard plant'

which is fair enough, but we never have seen a mouse come from a dog.

That's because evolution is a fairy tale, invented by atheists to scare their children away from religion. Also, the scientific method is just humanity's futile attempt to overlay a veneer of sanity, order and meaning onto an a-teleological, chaotic and hostile universe.

[Pondlife]

All the examples I have seen are 'a different type of dog', 'a different type of bacteria', 'a different type of goatsbeard plant'

which is fair enough, but we never have seen a mouse come from a dog.

But in your earlier post, cat and dog (different species/can't breed) share the same ancestor.

That ancestor was some four legged carnivorous mammal that wasn't a cat or a dog reproducing with another of the another of the same species to produce an offspring that liked chasing after sticks and two others elsewhere producing an offspring that liked to lie on the most inconvenient place and act aloof.

Then after years of interbreeding at the I like sticks club you get this four legged stick loving creature that want's absolutely nothing to do with the ridiculously aloof curtain sleepers.

[Eirikur]

All the examples I have seen are 'a different type of dog', 'a different type of bacteria', 'a different type of goatsbeard plant'

which is fair enough, but we never have seen a mouse come from a dog.

If you wait 5 - 10 million years you will see something like that happening.

[SpontaneousOrder]

All the examples I have seen are 'a different type of dog', 'a different type of bacteria', 'a different type of goatsbeard plant'

which is fair enough, but we never have seen a mouse come from a dog.

Maybe it's just for the same reasons that we never see Monday become Tuesday. At some point some sub-species of dog may be seen as distinct from the original dog - but you have to compare them in a wide enough scope. Just like you have to look from a wide enough perspective to see Monday become Tuesday.