I was reading Evolution For Dummies, since the main topic of the High School orientation I chose is biology and I’m planning to do a presentation proving that evolution is a fact (and debunking arguments against it), so I decided to take a rest from the book and watch some YT videos.
I found two EXCELLENT videos by AronRa regarding evolution and proving that it IS a fact, not only a “theory”, as many people think.
NOTE: I do NOT agree with Ra’s atheistic views, but I must admit that his videos on evolution, biology and other subjects related to science are fantastic (Johanan Raatz and some of my other fellow apologists agree with this), really well explained and they will come in handy this year.
By the way, I would like you to leave arguments against evolution you have heard followed by a proper refutation, they will come in handy.
I think saying that evolution is a “fact” only confuses the discussion. Evolutionary theory is supported by countless facts, however it is not a fact in itself. Better to reframe people’s understanding of what “theory” actually means in science than to resort to claiming evolution is a fact, which I think sounds like bogus to any philosopher of science. In science, a well supported theory is superior to individual facts, because it integrates the facts into a coherent whole.
One of the goals of BioLogos is to have lots of materials (visual, audio, and written) that people can send to friends who are skeptical about evolution, without first having to excuse the obvious atheistic messaging mixed into it. Also, nobody on staff here looks like a semi-retired death metal guitarist. Whether that’s a positive or negative is your call.
Man, I really laughed with that. Saving it for jokes with some of my friends.
This was Aron’s first video I ever watched (I was googling nonsense months ago):
When I looked at him, I said to myself “Great, a Satanic high priest trying to prove God does not exist”. Weeks later, I found the full series of videos (Refuting the Irrefutable Proof of God) and said “No, just a creepy-looking gnostic atheist”
I even remember that someone called him a Satanist on the comment section once nad he was really angry for this saying “I am not a Satanist!”
If someone around here wants good videos on evolution without an atheistic bias or Satanic-looking “semi-retired death metal guitarists”, then watch this:
Stephen Jay Gould attempted to differentiate between the fact of evolution and the theory of evolution in his essay “Evolution as Fact and Theory”. Here is an excerpt:
Well, evolution is a theory. It is also a fact. And facts and theories are different things, not rungs in a hierarchy of increasing certainty. Facts are the world’s data. Theories are structures of ideas that explain and interpret facts. Facts do not go away when scientists debate rival theories to explain them. Einstein’s theory of gravitation replaced Newton’s, but apples did not suspend themselves in mid-air, pending the outcome. And humans evolved from apelike ancestors whether they did so by Darwin’s proposed mechanism or by some other, yet to be discovered.
Moreover, “fact” does not mean “absolute certainty.” The final proofs of logic and mathematics flow deductively from stated premises and achieve certainty only because they are not about the empirical world. Evolutionists make no claim for perpetual truth, though creationists often do (and then attack us for a style of argument that they themselves favor). In science, “fact” can only mean “confirmed to such a degree that it would be perverse to withhold provisional assent.” I suppose that apples might start to rise tomorrow, but the possibility does not merit equal time in physics classrooms.
Great videos! The last one with Ken Miller and Rowan Williams at Lambeth Palace was taken from a discussion with Richard Dawkins! And Dawkins was on his very best behavior that day (I watched the whole webcast).
