Humanity's worst mistake

[Possibly]

Leaving space.

After the Apollo program the entire space effort just kinda faded out and died. Exploration, survival, competition... all massive motivators for developing new technology. Any new frontier leads to an explosion of science as people try to figure out how to reach it, which leads to benefits for pretty much everyone.

Yes, the extreme nationalism and paranoia of that era wasn't a good thing, but competition and hate don't have to go together. We have to strive for something. Anything. We have to want to beat someone, because it's then when we do great things. And invading 3rd-world countries ain't gonna cut it.

(The above refers to US specifically, of course. Someone more experienced than me can try to generalize it.)

 

[CptCamoPants]

Evolution

The concept of evolution has resulted in more mass murder than all the religious wars in all of recorded history combined

I don't think you quite understood anything the OP said or anything you yourself said.

 

[GWarface]

Making the first atom bomb..

No country should have weapons like that (now they are even worse) and if there really is some aliens watching us from above, we showed them how intelligent and fucking stupid we are at the same time.. Which really isnt a good sign to send..

But hey.. No nukes, no Fallout.. Thats not good..

by the way if there really are aliens watching us they had either get down here and help or leave and go back to their own planet and fix their own problems instead of wasting time in space.

What if they have no problems?

Besides, if i was zooming around space and found a planet with wierd looking creatures running around and beating eachother, i would stick around.. At least just for a cheap laugh.. Then when i saw the first nuke go off, i would put the planet under even bigger surveillance..

But i digress, this is offtopic..

 

[Abanic]

The worst thing we've ever done?

Eugenics

The idea that we, as a people, would try to eliminate "undesirable" aspects of the human species by killing/sterilizing the "unfortunate" members of our society cursed with these aspects is madness and dehumanizing. By the mid-20th Century this mentality had led to 60,000 forced sterilizations in the United States and The Holocaust in Europe.

I would like to toss a little nugget out there for those who think that religion is the worst thing because of all the deaths it has caused.

People will use anything as an excuse to fight people that they don't like. Religion is simply being used as a flimsy form of 'justification' for horrendous activities, but to blame religion for causing the issues in the first place is misguided.

For those who are dead-set in blaming religion, here's another nugget: The only thing that has killed more people than religion is the lack of religion. Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, Myanmar, Darfur, Rawanda, Sudan, Yugoslavia, and the numerous incidents of genocide that take place in Africa and the Middle East in modern times are/were perpetrated for political influence, not religious reasons. History has proven that people who are driven to seek power will drift towards immoral activities if they feel that they don't have to answer to a higher authority in the afterlife.

People will use anything as an excuse to fight people that they don't like. Religion is simply being used as a flimsy form of 'justification' for horrendous activities, but to blame religion for causing the issues in the first place is misguided.

 

[SD-Fiend]

Making the first atom bomb..

No country should have weapons like that (now they are even worse) and if there really is some aliens watching us from above, we showed them how intelligent and fucking stupid we are at the same time.. Which really isnt a good sign to send..

But hey.. No nukes, no Fallout.. Thats not good..

by the way if there really are aliens watching us they had either get down here and help or leave and go back to their own planet and fix their own problems instead of wasting time in space.

What if they have no problems?

Besides, if i was zooming around space and found a planet with wierd looking creatures running around and beating eachother, i would stick around.. At least just for a cheap laugh.. Then when i saw the first nuke go off, i would put the planet under even bigger surveillance..

But i digress, this is offtopic..

if they have no problems then they are more than likely machine men or borgs either way they have probably developed weapons that would make nukes about as effective as male mosquitoes (the ones that don't suck blood).

 

[GWarface]

Making the first atom bomb..

No country should have weapons like that (now they are even worse) and if there really is some aliens watching us from above, we showed them how intelligent and fucking stupid we are at the same time.. Which really isnt a good sign to send..

But hey.. No nukes, no Fallout.. Thats not good..

by the way if there really are aliens watching us they had either get down here and help or leave and go back to their own planet and fix their own problems instead of wasting time in space.

What if they have no problems?

Besides, if i was zooming around space and found a planet with wierd looking creatures running around and beating eachother, i would stick around.. At least just for a cheap laugh.. Then when i saw the first nuke go off, i would put the planet under even bigger surveillance..

But i digress, this is offtopic..

if they have no problems then they are more than likely machine men or borgs either way they have probably developed weapons that would make nukes about as effective as male mosquitoes (the ones that don't suck blood).

Ok, look at it this way then.. What if one of their problems was our development? That they would love to see us thrive and prosper, but they cant intervene because we have to learn this stuff ourselves..?

Mix in the power of the atom and its kinda like when parents find out that their kid has learned to use a lighter.. It can be put to good use, but chances are that the kid finds it more fun to set things on fire..

 

[mysecondlife]

this might be controversial, but here we go.

biggest mistake would be people giving power to the Church in early Europe.

If the Church didn't have the power to suppress the researchers doing their work, I have a feeling that the progress of scientific discovery would've been accelerated.

 

[drthmik]

Evolution

The concept of evolution has resulted in more mass murder than all the religious wars in all of recorded history combined

And the concept of the atom, atomic bombs are devastating. We should never have figured out that atoms exsisted, we would have been much better off /sarcasm

Really? I am 99.9% sure im feeding a troll but 1. We didn't invent evolution, its a natural possess and 2. You can't not science because you think people will use your sciencing for evil.

1. we did invent evolution since it has never been observed in nature, there is no evidence for it in the fossil record and it cannot be experimented on in a lab. Every bit of evidence that has ever been put forward has been either proven to be a hoax or requires a prior assumption that evolution is fact and assuming your theory is true in order to prove your theory is true is such bad science that Darwin himself would disown the lot of you.

2. Might I suggest that you go back to school? because you appear to need a refresher on language, grammar and science.

 

[Erja_Perttu]

I would have to say wars over religion.

I'll agree with this over all the people just flat out saying 'Religion'. Religion on its own isn't a bad thing. Treat others how you want to be treated, don't steal - the basics of religion if followed in a sensible manner can make for quite a happy society.

It's when the nutters and people in power get hold of it that to falls to pieces and war start.

You can't say all religions have had holy wars though. The Buddhists are rather partial to peace.

Christianity isn't going anywhere, nice try.

Nice try? That doesn't make any sense. What I said was that most religions core philosophy is be nice to each other and worship a higher power. That is not inherently bad, but can be made dangerous by interpretation. Also, Buddhists have never started a holy war.

If you are confused, please reread my comment.

 

[Delsana]

I would have to say wars over religion.

I'll agree with this over all the people just flat out saying 'Religion'. Religion on its own isn't a bad thing. Treat others how you want to be treated, don't steal - the basics of religion if followed in a sensible manner can make for quite a happy society.

It's when the nutters and people in power get hold of it that to falls to pieces and war start.

You can't say all religions have had holy wars though. The Buddhists are rather partial to peace.

Christianity isn't going anywhere, nice try.

Nice try? That doesn't make any sense. What I said was that most religions core philosophy is be nice to each other and worship a higher power. That is not inherently bad, but can be made dangerous by interpretation. Also, Buddhists have never started a holy war.

If you are confused, please reread my comment.

Again, nice try.

You're stating they're good but then that they start wars, and ultimately that you don't like it when they meddle in things, then you compare them to another faith that literally has nothing in common and can't really be compared in the first place.

Nice try.

 

[Erja_Perttu]

I would have to say wars over religion.

I'll agree with this over all the people just flat out saying 'Religion'. Religion on its own isn't a bad thing. Treat others how you want to be treated, don't steal - the basics of religion if followed in a sensible manner can make for quite a happy society.

It's when the nutters and people in power get hold of it that to falls to pieces and war start.

You can't say all religions have had holy wars though. The Buddhists are rather partial to peace.

Christianity isn't going anywhere, nice try.

Nice try? That doesn't make any sense. What I said was that most religions core philosophy is be nice to each other and worship a higher power. That is not inherently bad, but can be made dangerous by interpretation. Also, Buddhists have never started a holy war.

If you are confused, please reread my comment.

Again, nice try.

You're stating they're good but then that they start wars, and ultimately that you don't like it when they meddle in things, then you compare them to another faith that literally has nothing in common and can't really be compared in the first place.

Nice try.

No, that's not what I'm saying.

I'm talking about religion as a whole, incorporating all faiths. There is no religion where the idea is "go kill people for land, money, a personal grudge, fear of invasion, etc", which is what war is.

Religion as a whole, cut down to its base element is a belief in a higher power which tells you how to live. In no religion does it say 'kill your neighbour.' In no religion does it say 'discriminate against those around who are different'.

Christianity and Buddhism are not the same. We are obviously both aware of this - however I was making a separate point with Buddhism, not comparing it to Christianity. The whole point of Buddhism is peace, and people of Buddhist faith have never instigated a war, making the statement 'Religions start wars' incorrect. That is what I'm saying.

 

[JesterRaiin]

What do you think is humanity's worst mistake?

Inventing and accepting concept of "sin".

It's a convenient way to explain to Ug why murdering someone is bad.

Medicine more devastating that sickness is useless.

 

[skeliton112]

Evolution

The concept of evolution has resulted in more mass murder than all the religious wars in all of recorded history combined

And the concept of the atom, atomic bombs are devastating. We should never have figured out that atoms exsisted, we would have been much better off /sarcasm

Really? I am 99.9% sure im feeding a troll but 1. We didn't invent evolution, its a natural possess and 2. You can't not science because you think people will use your sciencing for evil.

1. we did invent evolution since it has never been observed in nature, there is no evidence for it in the fossil record and it cannot be experimented on in a lab. Every bit of evidence that has ever been put forward has been either proven to be a hoax or requires a prior assumption that evolution is fact and assuming your theory is true in order to prove your theory is true is such bad science that Darwin himself would disown the lot of you.

2. Might I suggest that you go back to school? because you appear to need a refresher on language, grammar and science.

1. You accept that selective breeding works, correct? Well evolution uses exactly the same mechanism. Namely, certain traits are selected and animals possessing those traits breed, then the same process is repeated on their children.

For exampleof artificial selection, take the banana. The wild banana looks like this: http://lh6.ggpht.com/_H1GN8j00edA/TEvoPfYBxBI/AAAAAAAAAF0/3QNQfYE1SrY/wild%20banana_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg
Plantains look like this:
http://www.all-creatures.org/recipes/images/i-plantain.jpg
desert bananas look like this:
http://hometowncolumbia.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/banana1.jpg

As for observed evolution speciation has been observed. I cant be bothered to find a site im sure you can use google.

Also the are the ensatina salamander, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/05/2/l_052_05.html

2. I employ'd double negatives and incorrect forms of nouns because I felt like it, it still convey's my point just as effectively as a properly set out sentence.

 

[Alduin Silas]

To everyone who made the oceans comment in response to mine, I thank you all for the proof people still read Douglas Adams and the Hitch Hiker's guide, I give my fellow towel carrying friends one cookie and remind them of this.
Earth: Mostly Harmless.

 

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

You aren't even giving any examples you are just saying Christians are in the army therefore that counts as religious killings(which it doesn't) or Muslim extremists which the conflict over there is not just to do with Religion as conveniently Saddam was over thrown only after he wanted to try the Oil currency to Euro.

You aren't even giving any examples of whole passages with no conditions that promote pure carnage you are just saying they do. You haven't even backed up your argument with one solid fact you are just spouting random negative opinions about religion at least I actually went and found the amount killed by a dictator which takes what 5 seconds with Google and then used a calculator to find out that he killed roughly 3% of the world population at the time(taking the aggregate of 67.5 mil as his deaths caused).

At least attempt to counter my points or actually come up with something concrete before saying my opinion is shit at least most people have the courtesy to do that.

Did I ever once call your opinion shit? I may have called your argument fairly baseless which is fair enough as you have yet to actually give 1 solid fact or number and I haven't called you an idiot or any names. I'll give you a fair enough I am wrong if you can actually find me something which you have yet to do.

You want to read passages that promote carnage do you?

Fine:

"Anyone arrogant enough to reject the verdict of the judge or of the priest who represents the LORD your God must be put to death. Such evil must be purged from Israel." (Deuteronomy 17:12 NLT)

"If a man lies with a male as with a women, both of them shall be put to death for their abominable deed; they have forfeited their lives." (Leviticus 20:13 NAB)

"If a man commits adultery with another man's wife, both the man and the woman must be put to death." (Leviticus 20:10 NLT)

"A priest's daughter who loses her honor by committing fornication and thereby dishonors her father also, shall be burned to death." (Leviticus 21:9 NAB)

"They entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and soul; and everyone who would not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, was to be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman." (2 Chronicles 15:12-13 NAB)

"If your own full brother, or your son or daughter, or your beloved wife, or you intimate friend, entices you secretly to serve other gods, whom you and your fathers have not known, gods of any other nations, near at hand or far away, from one end of the earth to the other: do not yield to him or listen to him, nor look with pity upon him, to spare or shield him, but kill him. Your hand shall be the first raised to slay him; the rest of the people shall join in with you. You shall stone him to death, because he sought to lead you astray from the Lord, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery. And all Israel, hearing of this, shall fear and never do such evil as this in your midst." (Deuteronomy 13:7-12 NAB)

"One day a man who had an Israelite mother and an Egyptian father got into a fight with one of the Israelite men. During the fight, this son of an Israelite woman blasphemed the LORD's name. So the man was brought to Moses for judgment. His mother's name was Shelomith. She was the daughter of Dibri of the tribe of Dan. They put the man in custody until the LORD's will in the matter should become clear. Then the LORD said to Moses, "Take the blasphemer outside the camp, and tell all those who heard him to lay their hands on his head. Then let the entire community stone him to death. Say to the people of Israel: Those who blaspheme God will suffer the consequences of their guilt and be punished. Anyone who blasphemes the LORD's name must be stoned to death by the whole community of Israel. Any Israelite or foreigner among you who blasphemes the LORD's name will surely die." (Leviticus 24:10-16 NLT)

"However, you may purchase male or female slaves from among the foreigners who live among you. You may also purchase the children of such resident foreigners, including those who have been born in your land. You may treat them as your property, passing them on to your children as a permanent inheritance. You may treat your slaves like this, but the people of Israel, your relatives, must never be treated this way." (Leviticus 25:44-46 NLT)

"When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she will not be freed at the end of six years as the men are. If she does not please the man who bought her, he may allow her to be bought back again. But he is not allowed to sell her to foreigners, since he is the one who broke the contract with her. And if the slave girl's owner arranges for her to marry his son, he may no longer treat her as a slave girl, but he must treat her as his daughter. If he himself marries her and then takes another wife, he may not reduce her food or clothing or fail to sleep with her as his wife. If he fails in any of these three ways, she may leave as a free woman without making any payment." (Exodus 21:7-11 NLT)

"Slaves, obey your earthly masters with deep respect and fear. Serve them sincerely as you would serve Christ." (Ephesians 6:5 NLT)

"As you approach a town to attack it, first offer its people terms for peace. If they accept your terms and open the gates to you, then all the people inside will serve you in forced labor. But if they refuse to make peace and prepare to fight, you must attack the town. When the LORD your God hands it over to you, kill every man in the town. But you may keep for yourselves all the women, children, livestock, and other plunder. You may enjoy the spoils of your enemies that the LORD your God has given you." (Deuteronomy 20:10-14)

"If within the city a man comes upon a maiden who is betrothed, and has relations with her, you shall bring them both out of the gate of the city and there stone them to death: the girl because she did not cry out for help though she was in the city, and the man because he violated his neighbors wife." (Deuteronomy 22:23-24 NAB)

"Lo, a day shall come for the Lord when the spoils shall be divided in your midst. And I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem for battle: the city shall be taken, houses plundered, women ravished; half of the city shall go into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be removed from the city." (Zechariah 14:1-2 NAB)

You were saying?

Oh and before you ask, the Qur'an is pretty much filled with the same hateful stuff as the bible. Im just quoting the bible because I have spent more years studying it than the Qur'an.

Also, before you go "Well Jesus doesn't support that, that's why most of those quotes are from the OLD testament." Consider these passages from the NEW testament where Jesus himself is clearly saying that everything in the OLD testament is supposed to be respected and adhered to if you're supposed to be able to call yourself a christian:

"For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass the law until all is accomplished. Whoever then relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but he who does them and teaches them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 5:18-19 RSV)

"Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest part or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place." (Matthew 5:17 NAB)

(the "law" being refered to here is the scripture from the old testament)

"All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness..." (2 Timothy 3:16 NAB)

"It is easier for Heaven and Earth to pass away than for the smallest part of the letter of the law to become invalid." (Luke 16:17 NAB)

Oh, my favourite:

"Know this first of all, that there is no prophecy of scripture that is a matter of personal interpretation, for no prophecy ever came through human will; but rather human beings moved by the holy Spirit spoke under the influence of God." (2 Peter 20-21 NAB)

Whaaat!? Nothing in the scripture is a matter of personal interpretation you say? Meaning that you can't blame all the evil stuff being promoted in the name of God in the old testament can be construed as "euphemisms" or other common bullshit cop-outs that christians and jews make use of to justify those very passages? That it's all supposed to be taken literally and at face value AT ALL TIMES? Thank you Mr. Holy man. You make it all to easy for me to win arguments against religious people.

Oh and another thing: would you claim that the christians in the army and the muslim extremists aren't being "real christians" or "real muslims" if they kill people? Somehow I doubt they'd agree with you...

Still waiting on numbers. Yes they are not acting like Real Christians or Muslims they can disagree all they like and so can you but killing in wars is against the core of both religions.

Yes you pick one of the most interpreted lines to back up your point about interpretation of the Bible. Stellar stuff. If you want to go with the general consensus well the general consensus of that line is that it only pertains to what was said by the prophets and that we cannot interpret them on our own as we were not the ones who received the message. It does not mean we cannot interpret the Bible as it only talks in relation to what was said by prophets in the scripture.

Well if you want a go of Jesus said this and he also said that for CHRISTIANS to follow his "Golden Rule" not for the Jews the Jews were given the law of the Torah to follow by God which is why they cannot go against that. He was talking to Jews not Christians. All that is saying is to follow Commandments not go killing people cause look at this over here in the book.

So yes Jesus does as he has to he is a Jew not a Christian.

No the Qur'an is not filled with hateful stuff and says on many occasions that everyone is equal no matter gender and that the views of Islam should not be forced on others as they must come to view Islam as the true religion of their own accord. Every line of violence or permitted violence in the Qur'an is followed or follows a ton of rules and regulations or conditions that must be met before such violence is permitted.

"Lo, a day shall come for the Lord when the spoils shall be divided in your midst. And I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem for battle: the city shall be taken, houses plundered, women ravished; half of the city shall go into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be removed from the city." (Zechariah 14:1-2 NAB)

This does not encourage violence this something that is supposed to happen it does not say go and rape who like in Jerusalem so I don't see how that quote is relevant.

"If within the city a man comes upon a maiden who is betrothed, and has relations with her, you shall bring them both out of the gate of the city and there stone them to death: the girl because she did not cry out for help though she was in the city, and the man because he violated his neighbors wife." (Deuteronomy 22:23-24 NAB)

This is once again completely ignoring the terms and condition of the violence and the laws at the time which is basically if you are adulterous you will be killed. It is nice to take something that isn't related to Christianity as said earlier as the stuff in Deuteronomy is all to do with Laws. Even then this is hardly a free pass for violence and is once again superseded by Jesus.

I shouldn't even have to go through all these as if you have studied the Bible as you claim you should know that all these are basically nothing but Laws which do not apply to Christians and no of which are free passes for violence and there is more to those quotes than you are giving.

Picking out just one or two lines to a whole book which details various conditions to must be met before people are punished so harshly is not better than me saying Science is shit because it is just one big theory based on Axioms that we must accept for it to be true or that Evolution is wrong because has some theory behind how it works. There are some quite key phrases you seem to be ignoring in most if not all of these.

For example in the one I quote last the sex is supposed to be consensual and with a virgin woman which goes against the laws at the time set down by Moses. None of these are actively promoting carnage and killing as a go to answer which is what I wanted and you haven't yet shown it to me. You are being no better than Fundamentalist Christians with your arguments. I have no problem accepting that they do promote killings according to their own laws at the time but those are by no stretch of the imagination the Bible promoting outright slaughter.

 

[Danny Ocean]

What is Rocket Surgery?

A joke.

And no its not basic maths, there are just too many factors, all of Africa is a gold mine with raw resources, the uninhabitble areas of Russia are full of Natural Resources, the gulf of mexico has litres upon litres of petrolium, imagine a fully industrialized India, or China, theres too much to be exploited still.

And we only have one Africa, one Russia and one Mexico. They have finite reserves of resources. Finite reserves will run out, no matter how efficient we get, unless we somehow figure out fusion or something.

If I imagine a fully industrialized India or China, I imagine a whole fuckload more finite resources being required. More metal, more petrol, more zinc, copper, aluminium, neon, gold, etc, etc..

Also, food is never ending, even if every single animal on this planet goes extinct, our crops are advanced enough that we never run out.

Crops are indeed infinite, but the rate of consumption can quite easily exceed the rate of production, which it will if the population keeps on growing.

I'm an optimist, but I'm no Boserup-nut. Malthus is correct in the long run.

 

[Beliyal]

1. we did invent evolution since it has never been observed in nature, there is no evidence for it in the fossil record and it cannot be experimented on in a lab. Every bit of evidence that has ever been put forward has been either proven to be a hoax or requires a prior assumption that evolution is fact and assuming your theory is true in order to prove your theory is true is such bad science that Darwin himself would disown the lot of you.

2. Might I suggest that you go back to school? because you appear to need a refresher on language, grammar and science.

Evolution observed in nature:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6896753.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3790531.stm
http://news.discovery.com/earth/rapid-evolution-cane-toads.html (also an experiment, but not intentionally man-made)

Evidence for it in the fossil record:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_fossil
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_transitional_fossils
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fossil_primates
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_evolution
http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/faq-transitional.html

Experiments on evolution (in a lab or otherwise):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Experimental_evolution
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn14094-bacteria-make-major-evolutionary-shift-in-the-lab.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._coli_long-term_evolution_experiment
http://www.dinosauria.com/jdp/evol/lizard.html

Also useful:
http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/faq-misconceptions.html
http://www.globalchange.umich.edu/globalchange1/current/lectures/selection/selection.html
http://darwiniana.org/transitionals.htm

It's really not that hard to learn in this day and age. And it's not a shame to not know something, but it is a shame to refuse to learn.

I also fail to see how the theory of evolution caused the worst mass killings in history of mankind. The misconception of evolution certainly had a part in it, but no one ever waged wars in the name of evolutionary biology. There are idiots on both sides, but I have yet to learn about a war or mass murdering caused by people who "worshipped" evolution. Besides, I'm strongly against blaming any concept for bad things; be it evolution or religion or whatever. A lot of people mentioned religion in this thread and I can't disagree more. Religion doesn't kill people and it doesn't make people kill people; it's just a concept, no more, no less (and it's a concept present in human kind for as long as human kind exists). People make other people kill people under the excuse of religion. All "religious" killings were done out of political, personal and other selfish reasons and were perpetrated by evil, greedy or otherwise bad people. If it wasn't religion that was their excuse, it would've been something else.

 

[drthmik]

1. we did invent evolution since it has never been observed in nature, there is no evidence for it in the fossil record and it cannot be experimented on in a lab. Every bit of evidence that has ever been put forward has been either proven to be a hoax or requires a prior assumption that evolution is fact and assuming your theory is true in order to prove your theory is true is such bad science that Darwin himself would disown the lot of you.

2. Might I suggest that you go back to school? because you appear to need a refresher on language, grammar and science.

Evolution observed in nature:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6896753.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3790531.stm
http://news.discovery.com/earth/rapid-evolution-cane-toads.html (also an experiment, but not intentionally man-made)

Evidence for it in the fossil record:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_fossil
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_transitional_fossils
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fossil_primates
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_evolution
http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/faq-transitional.html

Experiments on evolution (in a lab or otherwise):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Experimental_evolution
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn14094-bacteria-make-major-evolutionary-shift-in-the-lab.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._coli_long-term_evolution_experiment
http://www.dinosauria.com/jdp/evol/lizard.html

Also useful:
http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/faq-misconceptions.html
http://www.globalchange.umich.edu/globalchange1/current/lectures/selection/selection.html
http://darwiniana.org/transitionals.htm

It's really not that hard to learn in this day and age. And it's not a shame to not know something, but it is a shame to refuse to learn.

I also fail to see how the theory of evolution caused the worst mass killings in history of mankind. The misconception of evolution certainly had a part in it, but no one ever waged wars in the name of evolutionary biology. There are idiots on both sides, but I have yet to learn about a war or mass murdering caused by people who "worshipped" evolution. Besides, I'm strongly against blaming any concept for bad things; be it evolution or religion or whatever. A lot of people mentioned religion in this thread and I can't disagree more. Religion doesn't kill people and it doesn't make people kill people; it's just a concept, no more, no less (and it's a concept present in human kind for as long as human kind exists). People make other people kill people under the excuse of religion. All "religious" killings were done out of political, personal and other selfish reasons and were perpetrated by evil, greedy or otherwise bad people. If it wasn't religion that was their excuse, it would've been something else.

Your links are nothing new
I'd already seen all the wiki ones before
yet, the evidence presented in those links either;
1. had nothing to do with evolution but were rather merely adaptations within a species to new environments
or
2. required the assumption of "evolution is true" prior to viewing the evidence
you may have made that leap of faith, but I have not

 

[Beliyal]

1. we did invent evolution since it has never been observed in nature, there is no evidence for it in the fossil record and it cannot be experimented on in a lab. Every bit of evidence that has ever been put forward has been either proven to be a hoax or requires a prior assumption that evolution is fact and assuming your theory is true in order to prove your theory is true is such bad science that Darwin himself would disown the lot of you.

2. Might I suggest that you go back to school? because you appear to need a refresher on language, grammar and science.

Evolution observed in nature:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6896753.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3790531.stm
http://news.discovery.com/earth/rapid-evolution-cane-toads.html (also an experiment, but not intentionally man-made)

Evidence for it in the fossil record:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_fossil
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_transitional_fossils
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fossil_primates
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_evolution
http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/faq-transitional.html

Experiments on evolution (in a lab or otherwise):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Experimental_evolution
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn14094-bacteria-make-major-evolutionary-shift-in-the-lab.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._coli_long-term_evolution_experiment
http://www.dinosauria.com/jdp/evol/lizard.html

Also useful:
http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/faq-misconceptions.html
http://www.globalchange.umich.edu/globalchange1/current/lectures/selection/selection.html
http://darwiniana.org/transitionals.htm

It's really not that hard to learn in this day and age. And it's not a shame to not know something, but it is a shame to refuse to learn.

I also fail to see how the theory of evolution caused the worst mass killings in history of mankind. The misconception of evolution certainly had a part in it, but no one ever waged wars in the name of evolutionary biology. There are idiots on both sides, but I have yet to learn about a war or mass murdering caused by people who "worshipped" evolution. Besides, I'm strongly against blaming any concept for bad things; be it evolution or religion or whatever. A lot of people mentioned religion in this thread and I can't disagree more. Religion doesn't kill people and it doesn't make people kill people; it's just a concept, no more, no less (and it's a concept present in human kind for as long as human kind exists). People make other people kill people under the excuse of religion. All "religious" killings were done out of political, personal and other selfish reasons and were perpetrated by evil, greedy or otherwise bad people. If it wasn't religion that was their excuse, it would've been something else.

Your links are nothing new
I'd already seen all the wiki ones before
yet, the evidence presented in those links either;
1. had nothing to do with evolution but were rather merely adaptations within a species to new environments
or
2. required the assumption of "evolution is true" prior to viewing the evidence
you may have made that leap of faith, but I have not

I'm not sure I understand your second point. People didn't start off by saying "Evolution is true, let's find the evidence!". It was the other way around. Large amounts of various things started pointing to the fact that there's a certain concept which was, after a while, dubbed "evolution". Since Darwin, the theory went in all directions and without it, nothing in nature makes sense. If it wasn't true, science would've dismissed it, like it dismissed the stuff like "Earth is flat" or "Everything revolves around Earth". If Darwin was saying nonsense, if there was no evidence, it wasn't applicable to anything in the past or the present and it didn't so easily and perfectly explain the diversity of the life on Earth, it wouldn't be a widely accepted theory. There's no leap of faith; there's 150 years of accumulated evidence, observation, documentation, testing, experimenting and questioning through scientific means. What else on this matter has better evidence? Besides, thousands of people have dedicated their whole lives to research, explain and present evolution. All the evidence and explanations are available for anyone to see for themselves. It's not easy to understand, but anyone can understand the basics. If you need more, there's always the possibility to study it.

Adaptations to new environments are a part of evolution. Some species evolved to adapt to a certain environment the best they can, some changed over millions of years and gradually completely lost what they had before to be better equipped for the new environment. We, for example, lost a lot of body hair, adapted our hands for better dexterity, grew taller, got bigger brains.

Yes, my links are nothing new and you seem to have decided to dismiss evolution from the start. I will not force anyone to adapt to new things over night, however, I do recommend to look at those links, and many other links, books, scientific papers and academic discussions on the matter without prior bias against evolution. Even if you are religious, I see no reason to avoid accepting evolution, as there are many religious people who call it "God's work" (which is completely fine by me, although not my chosen explanation).