Have you changed your mind?

[fantome profane]

Have you changed you mind concerning the theory of evolution during your time on this board, or even before? Was it the result of something your read here, or were directed to from here, or did it have nothing to do with this board. If you have experienced a change in mind, no matter how slight, please tell us about it.

 

[TheKnight]

I used to reject evolution. This was mostly because of a lack of knowledge on my part. Then, a member on another forum (a guy who was working on his Ph.D in Biology) took the time to explain evolution to me. Then I realized that there really is no reason not to accept evolution.

 

[Buttons*]

Have you changed you mind concerning the theory of evolution during your time on this board, or even before? Was it the result of something your read here, or were directed to from here, or did it have nothing to do with this board. If you have experienced a change in mind, no matter how slight, please tell us about it.

From a young age, I accepted the concept of evolution without a second thought. As I got older, I realized that, in general, it's unwise to make assumptions without having seen it first hand. Since I can't see evolution working, and there are still a few things that need to be discovered in this area of science, I realized that I needed to be more cautious about putting dogmatic belief into anything. It's not that the religious people on here changed me to thinking that creationism is correct. I just am not ready to bet my life 100% on evolution.... so my convictions have become less strong.

 

[monta]

I agree with buttons in that I am uncomfortable making assumptions about anything, it does seem to me that evolution is the most credible explanation of the current state of life on earth. But some of the mechanics of evolution are still a mystery, but that's ok, you can't know everything, got to leave a few things for the next generation to work on, or they will get bored and start doing the drugs.

So I learn new things about evolution from either correct or incorrect information that is posted here and that I then go and delve into, but I think it is more a learning process than a change of mind.

 

[England my lionheart]

RF has definately expanded my knowledge of TOE and i was sceptical of some parts of it but i have learned a lot from not only people who can speak with authority on the subject but also from the arguments put against it.

 

[Riverwolf]

I've always believed evolution was the way things were, though for a while I accepted the (very, very slight) possibility that I was wrong. However, after another member mentioned that evolution was actually observed by a certain laboratory (not sure who or what thread anymore), I am even more certain that it is the way things work.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

I use to totally reject evolution, and did not pay attention at all to the little bit of it that was covered when I was in high school. After I deconverted from Christianity, I still rejected evolution, because I didn't really understand it.
Actually, I learned most of what I have about evolution right here on RF. And the more I learned and understood it, the more I have accepted it.

 

[Zephyr]

Before this board I believed in evolution, but now I've directly observed evolution, and I gotta say, my belief has been pretty damn well solidified by it. Nothing to do with this board really, though Painted Wolf really helped me realize what I was seeing I guess.

Fruit flies are awesome.

 

[monta]

Fruit flies are awesome.

QFT I can't kill em even when they infest my house in the summer, I just live with them, just a throwback to how amazing I found them in biology class I do prefer the red eyed to the white eyed ones though


http://www.brain.riken.go.jp/bsi-news/bsinews30/files/network0101-big.jpg

 

[JMorris]

racist

 

[monta]

racist

White eyes are creepy :cover:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/40/87333185_139df0e27f.jpg

 

[JMorris]

White eyes are creepy :cover:

your creepy. but i dont go around telling everyone i dislike you. poor white-eyed fly. you should feel ashamed of yourself

 

[monta]

your creepy. but i dont go around telling everyone i dislike you. poor white-eyed fly. you should feel ashamed of yourself

But my eyes are green, if they were white I would be shamed no doubt, but green is a most common and normal colour.

 

[Kerr]

So far I see no reason to reject it.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Yes. I used to think that people rejected evolution after learning about it, because it somehow conflicted with their religious views. Now, I realize that people reject evolution without learning about it at all.

 

[Nepenthe]

But my eyes are green, if they were white I would be shamed no doubt, but green is a most common and normal colour.

While I'm sure your eyes are lovely, aren't green eyes only present in about 2% of the world's population?


<...backs away slowly from the green-eyed girl.>

 

[Nepenthe]

Oh yeah, the OP.
I used to be naive enough to think that internet discussions on evolution would be interesting and maybe a tiny fraction of those who denied it would reconsider in light of well reasoned evidence.

Now I know the internet is only useful for ordering stuff and free por*.
And yes, by por* I mean "port", as in wine.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Oh yeah, the OP.
I used to be naive enough to think that internet discussions on evolution would be interesting and maybe a tiny fraction of those who denied it would reconsider in light of well reasoned evidence.

Now I know the internet is only useful for ordering stuff and free por*.
And yes, by por* I mean "port", as in wine.

Oh, for a minute I thought you were talking about free pork. Word to the wise: Never accept free pork through the internet. Just trust me on this one.

 

[Nepenthe]

Oh, for a minute I thought you were talking about free pork. Word to the wise: Never accept free pork through the internet. Just trust me on this one.

Well there goes my plans to eat that BLT I ordered from NOTSOKOSHER.com. They shipped it priority mail too so the mayo hasn't even turned yet.
Hmph.

 

[Jose Fly]

I grew up in a fundamentalist Christian household. As I entered my early teens, I realized that I wanted to pursue a career in the life sciences, and being a strong extrovert, I let everyone around me know what I wanted to do, including those in our church. So, the church leaders started giving me books, videos, and pamphlets from various young-earth creationist organizations. Also, even though I was in the AP science program in high school, they never touched evolution--too controversial for a small midwestern rural community.

So by the time I went to college, I was immersed in YEC and rather ignorant in evolution. I didn't quite buy the whole young-earth stuff; it just didn't seem plausible to me. But I did have some pretty negative views about evolution. In my second semester as an undergraduate I took an evolutionary biology course, which was given by a professor who turned out to be my major professor in graduate school. He was very gruff, direct, and had no patience for creationism. Nevertheless, I approached him after about a week of class and told him my history and that I had some questions about some of the creationist arguments I had read.

He peered up from his typewriter (yes, he still used a typewriter), looked at me, and asked "Do you want to be a scientist?" I replied that I did, and he answered, "Then you need to learn to think like one." He then asked me what I thought was the most compelling argument the creationists had put forth. I answered that all the quotes from various scientists regarding the lack of transitional fossils really struck me as important. He instructed me to take a list of those quotes and arguments and go down to the library and look up every one of the original articles and read through them completely.

Well, it took me all of about 2 days to realize the extreme dishonesty that is at the core of YEC, and completely disavow everything to do with it. I was so appalled and disgusted that people claiming to be "Christians" and "on the side of God" were so blatently and pathologically lying, time and time again, I really didn't know what to do. The quote mining was so egregious, it made my stomach turn.

When I reported back to my professor, he wouldn't let me off the hook. He gave me a list of more papers to read that described transitional specimens in detail. While rejecting creationism was a very quick process, it was over a bit more time that I started to realize just how well evidenced evolution and common descent are.

And my professor absolutely made his point; when in doubt, look at the data. To this day, my mantra is always, "LOOK AT THE DATA!!"