What possible evidence could falsify the biological theory of evolution?
[This rightly belongs in a comment thread, responding to Magenta and Henpc999. My computer failed me and so here it is. Please see that thread to make sense of this and accept my apology.] No, i am not sorry at all. You’ve answered my question well. (I’m not trying a game of one-upmanship or trying to be clever, but to arrive at the truth. I respect your intellect and sincerity.) We are saying the same thing at different levels. I have never said that we can only know what we have experienced-quite the opposite. Magenta said: Instead, we operate under assumed definitions… Henpc said: the key is in trusting the scientific method – e.g. other scientists have experienced it/whatever and then subsequently been verified by themselves AND indepedently… Operative words in these comments are “assumed” and “trust”. A respected lawyer of the first century defined faith as “the assured expectation of things hoped for, the evident demonstration of realities though not beheld”. I hold to that d
As a staunch evolutionist, whose belief in evolution is formed from a logical, analytical point of view rather than empricial knowledge of the world… I would say…. Nothing. The key concepts behind evolution are definitely true, and I believe I can demonstrate a logically sound proof for that in about 10 points, with 3 safe premesis. There are, of course, problems with a few things about evolution, e.g. a few points have come about every now and then, and of course there is the problem with biogenesis, but the problems with evolution are essentially non-affecting to the main theory, they just require more investigation.
The theory is the proposed explanation for the observed phenomenon. Evolution is the phenomenon, not the theory. The proposed explanation for evolution is called Natural Selection. We (humans) can (and do) manipulate the phenotypes of species by intervening and selecting for various traits, and promoting or inhibiting the reproduction of species that carry these traits. The Theory of Natural Selection proposes that similar processes occur naturally based on selective pressures species have due to their environments. There is a great deal of evidence supporting this explanation. Like the Theory of Universal Gravitation, Natural Selection is a simple idea that explains complex phenomena, but it can always be said that there is some supernatural being doing the work instead. Since both make testable predictions and are supported by abundant evidence, they are much more preferable to postulating extravagances such as a Prime Mover or Divine Creator.
