I'm just interested to see what your answers are.

If we evolved from Apes, then we should be able to track the evolutionary process back to a single celled organism.

What did apes evolve from. What was the next ancestor, and so on. If evolution is a reality we should be able to back track these various stages, right?

When you boil it all down, evolution is a theory. A theory is a 'proven' hypothesis (which is an educated guess). Theory is an educated guess that has some 'proof' behind it. Not "end all be all" proof, but some kind of evidence that backs the claim.

As organism315 says, if you are truly interested in the subject, go get educated about it and form an opinion. Opinion is all that we REALLY have, isn't it? Just remember, those who teach you are only human too.

No one knows it all, otherwise things would be so much more simple. Actually I'm kind of happy that there isn't anyone who knows it all. Life would be so boring otherwise.

These days, the ancestry of organisms if often traced through "mitochondrial dna."

The proposition that a scientific theory is just an "educated guess" is difficult to defend unless you take a strong skeptical view, such as: it is just an "educated guess" that the outside world persists even when it isn't actively observed. The word "theory" has a technical meaning in science. Just like different sports use different ways of keeping score (a low score is good in golf but bad in baseball) different areas of study sometimes use words in specialized ways. Scientific theories demonstrate their value based on their ability to explain phenomena, predict the future, and maintain falsifiability (a tautology, such as "a bachelor is an unmarried man" does not qualify as a theory because it is not falsifiable).

A hypothesis is a proposed explanation: "The moon is made of green cheese" qualifies as a hypothesis.

A law describes a theory's observations.

Evolution is a theory used to explain observations, while natural selection is a law which provides a mechanism to describe the observable results of evolution.

Funny how many people oppose biological Darwinism, but are all gung-ho about social Darwinism...





[edit on 18-3-2009 by incoherent_television]

Originally posted by incoherent_television

Funny how many people oppose biological Darwinism, but are all gung-ho about social Darwinism...

[edit on 18-3-2009 by incoherent_television]

Oh be glad you edited out your explanation on what a Theory is...

Make sure to look up some information on Chromosome #2, Retroviruses, and human/ape blood types. There are some excellent videos on You Tube dealing with these subjects.

Try Phoenixshade3 and BonoboBill.

Originally posted by dragonking76

Originally posted by incoherent_television

Funny how many people oppose biological Darwinism, but are all gung-ho about social Darwinism...

[edit on 18-3-2009 by incoherent_television]

Oh be glad you edited out your explanation on what a Theory is...

Is it safe to assume that since you noticed my error before I noticed my own error, that you are deliberately spreading disinformation about a theory being merely an "educated guess" and what such an assertion implies for the creationist crowd?

Richard Dawkins has written a wonderful book that does just what the OP is asking for. The Ancestor's Tale begins with us and traces our ancestry all the way back down the Tree of Life to the very first (speculative, of course) organism.

I know Prof. Dawkins's writing very well and it seems to me he has aimed this book at young, inquiring minds. The material in it is fascinating, and easy to grasp for almost anyone.

Of course, it is widely acknowledged that Prof. Dawkins is, if not the Devil himself, his chaplain at least.

Originally posted by anonymous56
I'm just interested to see what your answers are.

If we evolved from Apes, then we should be able to track the evolutionary process back to a single celled organism.

What did apes evolve from. What was the next ancestor, and so on. If evolution is a reality we should be able to back track these various stages, right?

If we evolved from apes, why would there still be any apes?
We evolved WITH apes.

Originally posted by CaptainCaveMan

Originally posted by anonymous56
I'm just interested to see what your answers are.

If we evolved from Apes, then we should be able to track the evolutionary process back to a single celled organism.

What did apes evolve from. What was the next ancestor, and so on. If evolution is a reality we should be able to back track these various stages, right?

If we evolved from apes, why would there still be any apes?
We evolved WITH apes.

We are apes but we have given ourselves a different definition. We are just another kind of ape.

Originally posted by Astyanax
Richard Dawkins has written a wonderful book that does just what the OP is asking for. The Ancestor's Tale begins with us and traces our ancestry all the way back down the Tree of Life to the very first (speculative, of course) organism.

And one I would highly recommend also.

Of course, it is widely acknowledged that Prof. Dawkins is, if not the Devil himself, his chaplain at least.

Apparently he also gives creationists couties.

[edit on 19-3-2009 by melatonin]