Evolution - is it real?

Evolution - is it real?

Author
Discussion

JohnnyJones

Original Poster:

1,740 posts

181 months

Tuesday 5th January 2021
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Have we done this?

Evolution is a theory. If it happened / happens then where are all the ‘half way’ animals? It’s not just the missing link between us and the monkeys that’s missing is it, there are thousands. Where are walking fish, bald birds or whatever. And if the theory is wrong then what’s the alternative?

otherman

2,196 posts

168 months

Tuesday 5th January 2021
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You're one of the half way animals. Half way to what, we don't know yet.

Clifford Chambers

27,205 posts

186 months

Tuesday 5th January 2021
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It's proven, stuff has evolved within living memory.

vetrof

2,536 posts

176 months

Tuesday 5th January 2021
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At least this is in the Lounge and not the Science forum.

DocJock

8,400 posts

243 months

Tuesday 5th January 2021
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The walking fish and bald birds have been found. They died out die to......evolution!

Johnnytheboy

24,498 posts

189 months

Tuesday 5th January 2021
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Covid has evolved.

/thread.

As for the halfway animals, that's not how it works.

otolith

57,065 posts

207 months

Tuesday 5th January 2021
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Next week - Australia, does it really exist?

Steamer

13,917 posts

216 months

Tuesday 5th January 2021
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Have you ever visited the Forest of Dean area?...

..You may well find a lot of your questions answered.

LimaDelta

6,667 posts

221 months

Tuesday 5th January 2021
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JA_Bhi3iFdg

(Futurama episode extract - not conspiracy nut content)

cml24

1,421 posts

150 months

Tuesday 5th January 2021
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This thread has cheered me up whilst I'm feeling a bit miserable about things.

anonymous-user

57 months

Tuesday 5th January 2021
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This post has to be a windup?

Condi

17,431 posts

174 months

Tuesday 5th January 2021
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JohnnyJones said:
Evolution is a theory.
It's not.

It's called "the theory of evolution" because when Darwin (and others) first proposed the idea it was a theory.

Over 150 years later, and with much more evidence available, it is scientific fact.

MikeT66

2,685 posts

127 months

Tuesday 5th January 2021
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otherman said:
You're one of the half way animals. Half way to what, we don't know yet.
laugh

There are fish that walk - quite a few species. The mudskipper is probably the most known. At a guess, I'd say evolution is a very slow process, and (AIUI) species cannot 'move up' whilst something else is in the category above. Remove humans and you may find an ape learning new skills as part of the evolutionary environment is now empty. Predators also may have an effect. Mudskippers may eventually become more land-based if their environmental predators are removed, for instance, and it is safer out of the water than in. Evolution takes a long time and the right conditions.

StevieBee

13,091 posts

258 months

Tuesday 5th January 2021
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JohnnyJones said:
where are all the ‘half way’ animals? It’s not just the missing link between us and the monkeys that’s missing is it, there are thousands. Where are walking fish, bald birds or whatever. And if the theory is wrong then what’s the alternative?
There's no missing links. The ape species from which humans evolved no longer exists because the species evolved to a better one. This is ongoing across all species. Some might have slowed down their evolution or stopped evolving altogether but that's because they have reached the optimum level for them - a process that may start again through external environmental influence.



underwhelmist

1,863 posts

137 months

Tuesday 5th January 2021
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Also the scientific definition of the word theory is different to the way we use the word in general conversation. In general conversation it's used to describe something that might or might not be true, but a scientific theory has been confirmed through observation and/or experimentation.

thewarlock

3,248 posts

48 months

Tuesday 5th January 2021
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otolith said:
Next week - Australia, does it really exist?
laugh

The ground looks flat outside of my window...

p1stonhead

25,995 posts

170 months

Tuesday 5th January 2021
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JohnnyJones said:
Have we done this?

Evolution is a theory. If it happened / happens then where are all the ‘half way’ animals? It’s not just the missing link between us and the monkeys that’s missing is it, there are thousands. Where are walking fish, bald birds or whatever. And if the theory is wrong then what’s the alternative?
Look up what theory means in a scientific context.

The end.

ReverendCounter

6,087 posts

179 months

Tuesday 5th January 2021
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JohnnyJones said:
Where are walking fish, bald birds or whatever.
Fish that can walk on land like mudskippers? Fish with lungs that can breath air, like the lungfish? Birds that are half lizard, half reptile, like ye olde archaeopteryx?

paulguitar

24,434 posts

116 months

Tuesday 5th January 2021
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JohnnyJones said:
Evolution is a theory.
In just the same way as gravity, but I suspect you don't need to be convinced of that?





Wiry PAYE

326 posts

109 months

Tuesday 5th January 2021
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I find evolution a fascinating subject and can see where the op is coming from. Take metamorphosis for example or the sheer number of different plants animals insects that there are it’s just mind boggling.