It looks like you're using an Ad Blocker.
Please white-list or disable AboveTopSecret.com in your ad-blocking tool.
Thank you.
Some features of ATS will be disabled while you continue to use an ad-blocker.
www.shoutwire.com...
So when scientists talk about the theory of evolution--or the atomic theory or the theory of relativity, for that matter--they are not expressing reservations about its truth.
The NAS defines a fact as "an observation that has been repeatedly confirmed and for all practical purposes is accepted as 'true.'" The fossil record and abundant other evidence testify that organisms have evolved through time.
Originally posted by Nygdan
?
That is precisely what a theory is. If it was recognized as 'absolutely true', then it'd be considered a fact. A theory is something that seems to be correct, but might very well be utterly wrong.
A set of statements or principles devised to explain a group of facts or phenomena, especially one that has been repeatedly tested or is widely accepted and can be used to make predictions about natural phenomena.
This is not what is normally meant by the factual nature of evolution. Indeed, the Theory is that organisms share common descent and have been modified through time. But here the page is saying that that theory has been graduated into 'fact'??
Originally posted by Nygdan
Any theory can be potentially refuted. I seriously doubt that the theory of evolution is going to be refuted, it is strongly supported by the evidence and seems to be the best explanation that we have.
But that doesn't mean that its irrefutable, like a fact would be.
Originally posted by Nygdan
That is precisely what a theory is. If it was recognized as 'absolutely true', then it'd be considered a fact. A theory is something that seems to be correct, but might very well be utterly wrong.
Originally posted by Rev Paine
Like evolution, graity is generally a widely accepted theory. In science, there is no such thing as "fact." Also, like evolution, not everything is known about gravity. In fact, it would be accurate to say that we have roughly equal knowlege of both gravity and evolution.
Because gravity is "just a theory," would you be willing to discount it and jump off of a building?
Originally posted by Rev Paine
Originally posted by Nygdan
That is precisely what a theory is. If it was recognized as 'absolutely true', then it'd be considered a fact. A theory is something that seems to be correct, but might very well be utterly wrong.
That is not true in the slightest. It is clear that you have little understanding of the concept of a theory, so allow me to shed sime light on the subject for you.
Like evolution, graity is generally a widely accepted theory. In science, there is no such thing as "fact." Also, like evolution, not everything is known about gravity. In fact, it would be accurate to say that we have roughly equal knowlege of both gravity and evolution.
Because gravity is "just a theory," would you be willing to discount it and jump off of a building?
1. Evolution is only a theory. It is not a fact or a scientific law.
Many people learned in elementary school that a theory falls in the middle of a hierarchy of certainty--above a mere hypothesis but below a law. Scientists do not use the terms that way, however. According to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), a scientific theory is "a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world that can incorporate facts, laws, inferences, and tested hypotheses." No amount of validation changes a theory into a law, which is a descriptive generalization about nature. So when scientists talk about the theory of evolution--or the atomic theory or the theory of relativity, for that matter--they are not expressing reservations about its truth.
In addition to the theory of evolution, meaning the idea of descent with modification, one may also speak of the fact of evolution. The NAS defines a fact as "an observation that has been repeatedly confirmed and for all practical purposes is accepted as 'true.'" The fossil record and abundant other evidence testify that organisms have evolved through time. Although no one observed those transformations, the indirect evidence is clear, unambiguous and compelling.
All sciences frequently rely on indirect evidence. Physicists cannot see subatomic particles directly, for instance, so they verify their existence by watching for telltale tracks that the particles leave in cloud chambers. The absence of direct observation does not make physicists' conclusions less certain.