You believe in evolution because you were taught or indoctrinated to believe it. Just as if you had been born in the Middle Ages, you would be believing in God because that is what you would have been taught.
For that matter, if you just want to attribute mankind's origins purely to nature, you don't even need the modern theory of evolution to do that. People have believed that mankind came from nature for all of human history, such as Epicurus, who was a materialist and an atomist. Evolutionary thought dates back to the earliest Greek philosophers:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_evolutionary_thought
While some atheists ascribe to scientism, it really isn't needed if one merely wants to be an atheist. If you're only an atheist because you "believe in science", that's a rather weak reason, since atheists have always been around long before there was any modern conception of science. It also means that your life heavily depends on having an origin story which explains why you are here, when, in reality, plenty of people don't care why they are here or even need to know, they just live. (Our earliest hunter-gatherer ancestors had no idea why they were here or even that the earth was round, but they didn't need to merely to enjoy life).
Quote from: FreethinkingSceptic on May 04, 2025, 08:08:36 PMYou believe in evolution because you were taught or indoctrinated to believe it. Just as if you had been born in the Middle Ages, you would be believing in God because that is what you would have been taught.
For that matter, if you just want to attribute mankind's origins purely to nature, you don't even need the modern theory of evolution to do that. People have believed that mankind came from nature for all of human history, such as Epicurus, who was a materialist and an atomist. Evolutionary thought dates back to the earliest Greek philosophers:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_evolutionary_thought
While some atheists ascribe to scientism, it really isn't needed if one merely wants to be an atheist. If you're only an atheist because you "believe in science", that's a rather weak reason, since atheists have always been around long before there was any modern conception of science. It also means that your life heavily depends on having an origin story which explains why you are here, when, in reality, plenty of people don't care why they are here or even need to know, they just live. (Our earliest hunter-gatherer ancestors had no idea why they were here or even that the earth was round, but they didn't need to merely to enjoy life).
I would have to disagree with your " If you're only an atheist because you "believe in science", that's a rather weak reason, since atheists have always been around long before". Frankly, it is somewhat irrelevant to us as to why people in the past believed anything. Science is the most compelling reason to reject religious nonsense since every religion has copious amounts of completely bullshittery that science destroys, which is why in the last 40 years, leading religious nuts are demanding we use science against the concept of miracles and proving that non existence cannot be proven.....and shit like that.....hey, see how the banana fits perfectly into the curve of a human hand? Goddidit. Course also oddly, so does my ding-a-ling.
Only one reason to believe in evolution. It fits the FACTS best. If a better system comes along evolution would become a $200 question on Jeopardy. "What outmoded system..."
I accept evolution because it fits the facts and can generate accurate predictions. While it is correct to say I am able to accept it due to living in a time where the theory exists, simply living in this time period is not the reason I accept it.
Also, my reasons for accepting science and being ignostic are completely separate. If I converted to Christianity tomorrow, I would still accept all of science.
Yeah, it is kind of like going; you only believe in the heliocentric kosmological theory because you are indoctrinated.
No.
I mean, i am not a particularly smart man. If i were born under a geocentric dogmatic period, i woud have probably been geocentric, yes. But i have been lucky enough to have been taught about this heliocentric cosmological scientific theory and any observation and test i can do falls in line with that theory.
Same as evolution.
Some folks seek refuge in the Dark Ages because they can't handle the stresses of modern times. They have completely inadequate information on those times.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malleus_Maleficarum
Quote from: Mr.Obvious on May 06, 2025, 05:54:52 AMYeah, it is kind of like going; you only believe in the heliocentric kosmological theory because you are indoctrinated.
No.
I mean, i am not a particularly smart man. If i were born under a geocentric dogmatic period, i woud have probably been geocentric, yes. But i have been lucky enough to have been taught about this heliocentric cosmological scientific theory and any observation and test i can do falls in line with that theory.
Same as evolution.
Successfully predicting eclipses nearly got some folks burned at the stake in the old days.
Yeah, I seem to recall a certain Connecticut yankee...
I dont need to believe in evolution, just like I dont need to believe in gravity or air. I know that exist
"That's okay, son, evolution believes in you."
Quote from: KevinLogan on May 10, 2025, 07:41:34 AMI dont need to believe in evolution, just like I dont need to believe in gravity or air. I know that exist
You didn't discover gravity yourself. You were indoctrinated into believing that gravity exists. If you'd been born in ancient times, you'd be believing that the rotation of the planets were the doing of the gods or whatnot.
So I'm tempted to argue that you don't know it exists. Or at least that you don't know it on the same level as someone who actually discovered it from scratch, or devoted a significant amount of time to studying it.
You're basically just repeating what you've been taught.
Quote from: Gawdzilla Sama on May 05, 2025, 08:54:26 AMOnly one reason to believe in evolution. It fits the FACTS best. If a better system comes along evolution would become a $200 question on Jeopardy. "What outmoded system..."
You're right, though it seems like some people "religiously" believe in evolution (or even in popular misinformation about evolution), as though it "means" something to them.
Quote from: aitm on May 05, 2025, 04:46:15 AMI would have to disagree with your " If you're only an atheist because you "believe in science", that's a rather weak reason, since atheists have always been around long before". Frankly, it is somewhat irrelevant to us as to why people in the past believed anything. Science is the most compelling reason to reject religious nonsense since every religion has copious amounts of completely bullshittery that science destroys, which is why in the last 40 years, leading religious nuts are demanding we use science against the concept of miracles and proving that non existence cannot be proven.....and shit like that.....hey, see how the banana fits perfectly into the curve of a human hand? Goddidit. Course also oddly, so does my ding-a-ling.
Science is predicated on philosophical materialism, so dismissing a supernatural concept merely by asserting that the material universe is all that exists is a weak dismissal. Materialism and atomism have been around long before modern science anyway. So has evolutionary thought, for that matter. (Epicurus is one of the first well-known materialists and atomists, and ancient Greek philosophers dabbled in evolutionary thought).
Asserting something to be untrue merely because "science doesn't say it's true" is also a weak dismissal. Science didn't "used to say" that gravity was true, so if one was born prior to the discovery of gravity, they would have to dismiss its existence merely on the grounds that science didn't currently have a theory of gravity, and there would likewise be no discovery of gravity or other new theories on the grounds that, if contemporary science didn't already say they were true, they couldn't possibly be true.
Quote from: FreethinkingSceptic on May 14, 2025, 09:10:37 PMYou didn't discover gravity yourself. You were indoctrinated into believing that gravity exists. If you'd been born in ancient times, you'd be believing that the rotation of the planets were the doing of the gods or whatnot.
So I'm tempted to argue that you don't know it exists. Or at least that you don't know it on the same level as someone who actually discovered it from scratch, or devoted a significant amount of time to studying it.
You're basically just repeating what you've been taught.
Take your meds
My hillbilly cousins are clearly evolving. They'll be all the way up to slime mold in a few millennia.
Or more.