A Note on Evolution.
More than a few have taken issue with my statement in the previous post on Equality that “evolution is fact,” so I feel the need to respond — for their sake more than mine.
The dissenters’ common argument stems from a terrible, fundamental misunderstanding as to the definition of the words “theory” and “fact” in their scientific context. It is a far too ubiquitous mistake, and I blame the schools for not doing enough to curb it.
While I could provide the explanation myself, I will step aside here, and instead defer to the authority of world-renowned evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay Gould, who, in his 1994 essay “Evolution as Fact and Theory,” provided the final word on the matter:
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.
(Emphasis mine.)
So, for the tl;dr crowd: Evolution = fact. Darwin’s Origin of Species = theory.
Please do read the whole thing. This is really important stuff.
