Hooray for the creationist museum where dinosaurs and people can live together!
5: Da1andonly> !ban epinephrine
5: RoboHelp> Are you nuts? You can't ban a staff member!
5: Da1andonly> =((
5: Epinephrine> !ban da1andonly
5: RoboHelp> Staffer "da1andonly" has been banned for abuse.
5: Epinephrine> oh shit
That depends on what one means by evolution, by theory, and by fact. All of these words have at least two meanings. For example, evolution can either refer to an observed process (covered at evolution), or, as shorthand for evolutionary theory, to the explanation for that process (covered at modern evolutionary synthesis). To avoid confusion between these two meanings, when the theory of evolution, rather than the process/fact of evolution, is being discussed, this will usually be noted by explicitly using the word theory.
Evolution is not a theory in the sense used on Evolution; rather, it is a fact. This is because the word evolution is used here to refer to the observed process of the genetic composition of populations changing over successive generations. Because this is simply an observation, it is considered a fact.
Fact has two different meanings: in colloquial usage, it refers to any well-supported proposition; in scientific usage, it refers to a confirmed observation. For example, in the scientific sense, "apples fall if you drop them" is a fact, but "apples fall if you drop them because of gravity" is a theory. Gravity can thus either refer to a fact (the observation of objects being attracted to heavy objects) or a theory (the explanation for this fact). Evolution is the same way. As a fact, evolution is an observed biological process; as a theory, it is the explanation for this process. What adds to this confusion is that the theory of evolution is also sometimes called a "fact", in the colloquial sense—that is, to emphasize how well-supported it is.
When evolution is shorthand for "evolutionary theory", evolution is indeed a theory. However, phrasing this as "just a theory" is misleading. Theory has two different meanings: in colloquial usage, it refers to a conjecture or guess; in scientific usage, it refers to a well-supported explanation or model for observed phenomena. Evolution is a theory in the latter sense, not in the former. Thus, it is a theory in the same sense that gravity and plate tectonics are theories. The currently accepted theory of evolution is known as modern evolutionary synthesis.
"People fear what they can't understand, hate what they can't conquer."
"Cherry blossoms in the Spring, and starry skies in the Summer. The Autumn brings the full moon. The Winter brings the snow. These things make Sake taste good. If you don't like Sake, then there is something wrong with you."Seijuro Hiko
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