When a friend tells you he "does not agree" with the concept of evolution

[IsraelRocks]

Me and one of my collage friends were having a discussion that came to be about evolution at some point. what you need to understand before replying is that this guy is probably one of the smartest people out there, the guy is a certified genius.
He practices Judaism up to a certain degree (separates meat a dairy and other stuff) but calling him religious will be a vast exaggeration.

So when this guy, who is probably the smartest guy I ever met told me he didn't believe that humans are apart of evolution it blew me away. To make things worse he said "there are some things that humans are meant NOT to understand. and we are both Comp-Sci majors so rational thought is a given.

So..... WTF?!?!

 

[Conza]

Me and one of my collage friends were having a discussion that came to be about evolution at some point. what you need to understand before replying is that this guy is probably one of the smartest people out there, the guy is a certified genius.
He practices Judaism up to a certain degree (separates meat a dairy and other stuff) but calling him religious will be a vast exaggeration.

So when this guy, who is probably the smartest guy I ever met told me he didn't believe that humans are apart of evolution it blew me away. To make things worse he said "there are some things that humans are meant to understand. and we are both Comp-Sci majors so rational thought is a given.

So..... WTF?!?!

Haha, Sheldon Cooper.

*reads post*

Right, ok, well, did he offer any alternative? Other than, what I can determine from your post him saying 'the current understanding of human evolution is false', did he give anything else up on why he has decided to take that stand point?

 

[Saelune]

Im guessing you meant he said "There are some things that humans are [NOT] meant to understand"

I guess this scenario overall is what he was reffering to.

I honestly dont know how to respond.

 

[Palademon]

I'm not sure how to comment. It does seem weird, but then again I'm not going to look down on someone because of their beliefs.

 

[Kpt._Rob]

As Bill Maher put it, faith causes otherwise rational intelligent people to make some of the most ridiculous claims imaginable. Hell I know a couple of Evangelical Christians whose beliefs seem both ridiculous and at times even disgusting to me, but there's no denying that (these few at least) are still highly intelligent people.

To paraphrase Maher again, having faith is about making a virtue out of not thinking. There's really not too much one can do, but accept that, unfortunately, it's just the way of the world these days.

 

[Thaluikhain]

When you say "doesn't believe humans are a part of evolution", does that mean he thinks everything else evolves, but humans don't? That's rather odd.

 

[hazabaza1]

Live and let live, bro.
Sure, it's unexpected, but trying to change his views will just make you seem like a dick.

 

[Kahunaburger]

Ask him to get back to you the next time he needs antibiotics

 

[johnzaku]

When you say "doesn't believe humans are a part of evolution", does that mean he thinks everything else evolves, but humans don't? That's rather odd.

I had a friend say this. He explained that yes he believes in evolution, but the bible said god made us out of dirt and therefore we come from god, not evolution.

I didn't say anything as he was a very close friend at the time.

 

[kypsilon]

Well, he's not saying evolution doesn't exist, just that people aren't a part of it. I'd press him for his evidence of why he thinks the way he does. Who knows he may actually be on to something. Wouldn't be the first time we thought we had everything figured out.

 

[Salad Is Murder]

"Certified genius" that chooses to ignore empirical data with a hand waved "we are not supposed to understand"?

Okay, there's x number of rational explanations:

A) Your friend is messing with you.
B) Your friend is misinformed/ignorant.
C) Your friend is an idiot.

My science gut is really pulling for C here, but the other two shouldn't be ruled out without further data into the system.

 

[Salad Is Murder]

If nothing else, ask him how he feels about the fact that human existence is a powerful evolutionary force on other organisms...because, holy shit, we are totally all up in that.

 

[Jordi]

I guess the short answer is that even when you are smart, it doesn't mean that you are smart about every single aspect of life, or are immune to influence/indoctrination by peers and parents.

Having said that, it's impossible to know what he actually meant from the OP's description. For instance, I have heard many people say that survival-of-the-fittest evolution is not really working on people anymore because we are saving all of our old and sick, and mating with them based on whether they're nice rather than fit (or at least the criteria have changed). Furthermore, it seems that less successful/intelligent/rich people are getting less children than their less fortunate counterparts. Of course, that is still evolution (just in the wrong direction), but I can forgive a person for not knowing/understanding that.

Furthermore, there appear are some holes in our evolutionary history, and Darwin's original theory is nowhere near comprehensive, so maybe he meant to refer to something like that.

Evolution itself is a proven concept. We know it exists and that it works (since you're a CS major I assume you know about evolutionary/genetic algorithms). To deny that is kind of stupid (see my first paragraph). But what we don't know 100% for sure is whether it is the sole mechanism that brought us into the situation we are in today, and all of the aspects of it in nature (e.g. can traits accumulated during life be passed on?).

 

[SonofaJohannes]

Okay, so he doesn't believe in evolution. What's the big deal?
Just because people have opinions different from yours doesn't make them wrong.
If that's what thinks, then that's what he thinks. So let him think it. Trying to force your beliefs onto others just makes you seem like a dick.

 

[Purple Shrimp]

So when this guy, who is probably the smartest guy I ever met told me he didn't believe that humans are apart of evolution it blew me away. To make things worse he said "there are some things that humans are meant to understand. and we are both Comp-Sci majors so rational thought is a given.

assuming that you actually meant "aren't meant to understand" then I completely agree

 

[Gamer_152]

Live and let live, bro.
Sure, it's unexpected, but trying to change his views will just make you seem like a dick.

Challenging another person's viewpoint shouldn't be seen as wrong as long as it's done with respect to the other person's beliefs. Our beliefs and opinions being challenged are what help us learn and better refine these beliefs and opinions.

Personally the story of a very intelligent person not believing in evolution isn't that shocking to me. What does surprise me is that you say he isn't religious and yet he doesn't agree with evolution. Honestly I think the only way of getting to the bottom of it will be asking him why he doesn't agree and learning more about him.

 

[Coranico]

Well evolution has always been a theory, one that still isn't universally accepted (despite a hell of a lot of proof) so you can't really do much other than accept that's what he believes. You never know, if he is that smart he might have figured out what really happened and is just keeping the answer from us, in which case he is a massive bag with which one douches.

 

[ElectroJosh]

Well evolution has always been a theory

And, like everything else in science, always will be.

 

[Salad Is Murder]

Okay, so he doesn't believe in evolution. What's the big deal?
Just because people have opinions different from yours doesn't make them wrong.
If that's what thinks, then that's what he thinks. So let him think it. Trying to force your beliefs onto others just makes you seem like a dick.

Okay, here is where I have the problem. We are not debating truth in an esoteric, touchy-feely, invisible man in the sky kind of way here; we are debating fact. What if someone told you that they didn't believe in gravity? Would you be okay with that, live and let live right? What if someone believed that it wasn't illegal or immoral to have sex with children, that's okay right? I wouldn't want to force my beliefs on anyone, no harm done, two ships passing in the night. What if someone believed that your stuff is not your stuff, it could be anyone's stuff and they're taking your stuff because they believe your stuff is now their stuff. It's cool, ya'll, SonofaJ is alright with that.

Now, what if these people were teaching your kids? Running your state government? Responsible for law enforcement? Are you still alright with that?

 

[CounterReproductive]

he is probably referring to the fact that no-one has found all of the trasnitionary fossils necessary to 'prove' the theory. Unfortunately given the scarcity of fossils in general its unlkely to ever be completed. So people can continue to say it cannot be proven even though the evidence especially genetically is actually all around us.