People who don't "believe" in evolution?

[Robbie88]

I was having a discussion with an acquaintance of mine earlier who doesn't believe in evolution. I pointed out to this person that I had read that human DNA is over 98% identical to that of chimpanzees and I also brought up the various fossils that had been found, but this person proceeded to tell me that there was more "evidence against humans evolving from apes than there was for it". I asked him where he was getting this information, and he said that he had heard it from one of his professors. I have never heard anything along those lines before, so I figured that this was likely just a professor promoting an agenda, but at the same time, I am not quite as informed on this subject as I would like to be. I was just curious if anyone knew of any good online resources relating to evolution that would be good for someone, such as myself, who is not necessarily super knowledgeable when it comes to scientific matters. I did do a Google search, but I wanted to see if anyone here knew of anything.

Thanks in advance for any help.

[2Design]

1. try reading books and researching the topic n/t

[Ian David]

2. Here you go

http://www.skeptic.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=SS&Product_Code=b007PB&Category_Code=BR

[Robbie88]

4. Thank you! That looks like it should be helpful. n/t.

[fl_dem]

10. what a polite and helpful response......

thank you for your contribution of keeping my faith in humanity alive :toast:

[Vincardog]

3. Evolution is a fact. There is NO "evidence against humans evolving from apes" because they did not

We have a common ancestor. All life on this planet is related.

[Robbie88]

11. Right, that's how I've always understood it from the amount of knowledge that I do have,

which is why I was so shocked when he made that claim.

The thing with this guy is that he is an ultra-rightist who will whine constantly about the "liberal biases" of some his professors, and yet when it comes to those professors who hold conservative beliefs, he readily accepts any of their claims, regardless of how flimsy the evidence may be. He seems to have quite an extreme case of confirmation bias...

[Vincardog]

16. Which is why you should give up on ever having a reasoned discussion on this subject with him. He

(and the entire spectrum of RW nutz) are incapable of rational thought and factual discussion.

Their whole 'theory' comes down to the fact that evolution does not explain how life started.

It doesn't. It does not try to. Evolution and science endeavors to explain What and HOW things happen not WHY.

Save your self a lot of heartache and leave this moron and this discussion alone.

[Imperialism Inc.]

5. 29+ Evidences for Macroevolution

It is somewhat technical at times but still mostly at the layman level. It lays out all the major lines of evidence.

http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/comdesc/

If you are looking for a book I would suggest trying "Why Evolution Is True" by Jerry A. Coyne. You can get more info at his blog http://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/

[Robbie88]

15. Thank you!

And also thank you to RKP5637 and everyone else who has posted helpful information. :toast:

[pokerfan]

25. I was just going to post talk.origins

I've found it to be a valuable resource for more than fifteen years. It was originally created as a FAQ for the talk.origins USENET group but when was the last time anyone used USENET?

Creationist claims are numerous and varied, so it is often difficult to track down information on any given claim. Plus, creationists constantly come up with new claims which need addressing. This site attempts, as much as possible, to make it easy to find rebuttals and references from the scientific community to any and all of the various creationist claims. It is updated frequently; see the What's New page for the latest changes.

This collection is intended primarily as a guidepost and introduction. The explanations are not in depth (with a few exceptions), but most responses include links, references, and sources for more information. These are not just added for show. Readers are strongly encouraged to pursue additional reliable sources. We hope that readers will put in the effort to gain enough understanding of the subject so that they will not just parrot the information here, but will be able to explain it to others.

http://www.talkorigins.org/indexcc">An Index to Creationist Claims

[RKP5637]

6. Here is some material from an earlier posting on DU...

Myths about evolution:

"Creation science" is science.
There is a conspiracy among scientists to suppress "creation
science."
Life obviously had an intelligent designer.
Evolution defies the Second Law of Thermodynamics.
Evolution is only a theory.

See http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/LiberalFAQ.htm#Backhitler

and look under "Myths about evolution:"

[Chulanowa]

9. I've been looking for that site forever!

Thanks!

[theoldman]

7. To start with there is zero evidence that humans did not evolve from apes.

On the other hand there is a lot of evidence for humans evolving from apes. Every dog you see evolved from a wolf. Every pigeon you see evolved from wild rock pigeons. It's all in the DNA and DNA does not lie. Check out Richard Dawkin's books. He is one of the best evolutionary biologist living today.

[sakabatou]

8. Ask for details

Who is the professor? What does the professor teach? What is the professor stating that the "theory is not fact?"

[Birthmark]

12. I wouldn't waste my time if I were you

Honestly, I've never known an anti-evolutionist to ever be persuaded by facts or evidence. Evolution conflicts with their world-view. In order to accept evolution, they will probably have to adjust a lot of their belief-system. It's a trade that most are not willing to make on the basis of mere fact. So, it's almost certain that you'll be wasting your time and irritating your acquaintance.

[Robbie88]

19. Good point. The thing is, I usually do try to avoid bringing up "political" issues with this guy.

I mean, I realize that debate and discussion can be good, but our worldviews are just too different for us to agree on virtually anything, so I would just prefer not to create the unnecessary tension. He, unfortunately, doesn't feel the same way and frequently tries to provoke me into arguing with him, so I can almost guarantee that he will bring this up again. Normally, I have no problem holding my ground when we do debate politics, but I tend to not be quite as knowledgeable on science issues as I should be, so I just want to make sure that I know what I'm talking about should it come up again. Plus, I think that this would be good stuff for me to research anyways, just for the sake of being better informed.

Anyways, thanks for your help everyone. :bounce:

[damyank913]

28. Agreed-he's not going to listen to anything you have to say, unless you present it on stone tablets.

[provis99]

13. two points:

first, your acquaintance probably lied about having gotten his ideas from a "professor". Said professor probably doesn't exist; he made it up in a feeble attempt to give his stupid ideas more credibility.

second, tell him that whether he believes in evolution or not is irrelevant, because it is a fact. You either accept or deny the reality of evolution; it is not subject to a belief/disbelief criteria like he thinks.

[elehhhhna]

14. point outthat there are peole who have never even heard of

evolution, or gravity, but they are facts all the same.

Your bud's a dumba$$, though.

[YOY]

17. I prefer to answer thusly:

"No I do not want fries with that. You may want to clean up that table over there...some fat kid just puked."

[Robbie88]

20. Hahahaha

Not sure how well that would go over, though! :rofl:

[jody]

18. Consider material from the National Academies, they are the most authoritative in the US.

http://www.nationalacademies.org/evolution/index.html

[Robbie88]

21. Cool!

Thanks for your help, jody! :fistbump:

[jody]

22. When my grandkids started school, I gave each "Science and Creationism: A View from the National

Academy of Sciences" that you can read free at http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=6024.

I also gave to my relatives who are teachers "Teaching About Evolution and the Nature of Science" that can also be read free at http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=5787

Have a great day :hi:

[Robbie88]

23. Thank you! That all looks like it should be helpful.

You have a great day, too! :hi:

[dvdexpert]

24. you could try....

You can never convince them but...

A novel approach to show him what 98% similarity looks like is to show your friend pictures of hairless chimps. There arms are muscle for muscle the same as ours just stronger.

All life is related. It's all based on DNA, it all uses similar biochemistry again and again. We have not only the fossil record but now we have whole genomes. The tree of life is really filling in. They have nothing but denial. When they say "information can never be created" it is 100,000% denial.

The more you read on biology the more you understand biologists offer more information, know any given organism better and describe it more fully. The more you read creationists the more you realize they are not interested in life on earth.

[Orsino]

26. He might think that sharing ancestry with apes somehow demeans him.

I think that refusing to consider evidence that endangers his opinion of himself demeans him.

[Jim__]

27. Here's a link to the old Talk Origins site.

I don't think this site is updated any more; but it contains some great information: Link