Why is evolution important?

[puncheex]

Sure there was biological science before Darwin. The problem was that there was no underlying theory that allowed a biologist to explain how dinosaurs and other extinct lifeforms came to be, why they should be there, and what happened to them later on. The lifeforms and their fossils can be studied to determine how their systems work, but there is no background to evaluate such systems across the entire panoply of the world. Evo, sort of like the Force, binds it all together.

[ufcarazy]

Sorry, my posts are in reserve order. Read from the third on up.

[ufcarazy]

The problem with the first implication above is that it is false that no biological understanding pre-existed the theory of evolution. If Darwin used no pre-existing science to support his theory, then why was it accepted by so many?

The problem with the second implication is that, well, psycho-socially speaking the theory is unfalsifiable.

[ufcarazy]

Huh, I thought only people with biology degrees were qualified to talk about the theory of evolution. At least, that's what evolutionists say. The guy in the video is a physicist.

Further, I am very disappointed with the lack of detail in his response.

Also, to say that nothing in biology can be understood without the theory of evolution is to say that 1) no biological understanding pre-existed Darwin and 2) the theory of evolution must not be falsified lest biological understanding cease.

[JustGreatThanks]

"is to say that 1) no biological understanding pre-existed Darwin"

No, there were "naturalists" in and before Darwin's day, but Darwin's theory made coherent what we observe about biological structures, biogeography, the nested hierarchy, etc.

There were physicists before Newton (Aristotle commented on the motion of physical bodies after all), but I think you would agree that "Nothing in macroscopic physics makes sense without Newton's laws of motion," would still be accurate to say.

[JustGreatThanks]

"the theory of evolution must not be falsified lest biological understanding cease"

This isn't true either. It would be unfortunate for science if modern evolutionary theory were falsified, as it would destroy current biological understanding and we would have to "start from scratch" to form a new theory of bio-complexity, but that doesn't mean it is unfalsifiable. If Relativity was falsified our understanding of astronomy would be destroyed, but that also doesn't mean it CAN'T be proved wrong