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Evidence supports evolution

To the editor,

This letter is in response to the two letters on Febuary 7, 2000 about evolution. Unfortunately, both letters betray an immense ignorance about evolution, science and religion. Creationism is a religious concept; it involves the acts of supernatural forces, such as God, and thus cannot be a scientific concept. Science is a field of academic study and a field of knowledge that obeys the philosophical methods of science.

Science is a system of knowledge gathering that proposes disprovable hypotheses (ideas) that are then tested with experiments or studies. If the hypothesis is disproven, then a new one is generated to try to explain the occurrence of interest. If the hypothesis is not disproven, then it is tested again until it is disproven or is combined with other hypotheses (for related phenomena) to form a theory. Theories make further predictions which are repeatedly tested. Disproving the prediction disproves the theory. Failing to disprove the prediction supports (but does not prove) the theory. This is the scientific method, and science uses it.

It is on this basis that evolution is a science. Evolution is defined as the change in allele frequencies in a population, and this has been observed. Reviews of the literature have examples of coloration changes in the peppered moth in Britain and beak changes in Galapagos finches. Further support comes from the fossil record. Examination of an evolution text book will provide further support.

As a field, evolution is not wild guesses. The theories and hypotheses conform to the methods of science. They are testable and refutable. The field of evolution provides mechanisms for changes in species, the lack of change in species, and speciation. True, evolution is not proven because nothing in science can be proven.

The predictions of creationism violate the methods of science and therefore cannot be a scientific theory. At the simplest, creationism promotes God (at least one). This violates science because God is outside the control of science. One cannot disprove God. Since He is omniscient and omnipotent, humanity cannot remove him from the universe to observe the effect of having no god, which would be required in a scientific test.

Therefore, evolution is a viable scientific area of study, and creationism is not. Thus, evolution belongs in public schools (indeed, any place purporting to instruct people), and creationism should stay in church.

Robert Sandefer

General biology senior