Evolution is a Theory, not a Hypothesis

1. Entity type Lemma
2. Original titleEvolucija je teorija, a ne hipoteza
3. Language term Serbian
4. Alternative title Aleksej Tarasjev on Evolution (en)
5. lemma author Stevanovic, Aleksandra
6. lemma category Scientific theories and disciplines > Biology:evolution
7. Publication date 30-10-2017
8. lemma work Hipokratija: Evolucija je teorija, a ne hipoteza
9. lemma manifestations Radio Televizija Srbije
10. Keywords
    1. Tarasjev, Aleksej
11. Keywords Evolution - Darwin, Charles (1858)
12. Url 30/10/2017
13. Lemma body

    1. The topic of the program, organized by Dr. Momcilo B. Djordjevic, is Evolution is a theory, not a hypothesis, and the guest speaker is Dr. Aleksej Tarasjev, scientific advisor, the Head of the Department for Evolutionary Biology at the Institute for Biological Research “Sinisa Stankovic”, University of Belgrade.

       They started the discussion by considering whether the title Evolution is a theory, not a hypothesis is a rightful one, and Dr Tarasjev explained that it is since theories explain natural laws that before them as the basis merely represent observed regularity or truth.

       Further on, Dr Djordjevic asked whether it is exaggerated to say that Darwin’s theory is one of the biggest theories, and the guest speaker acknowledges the importance of it by saying that Darwin’s contribution to the development of science is one of the most significant since he created contemporary biology. Before his theory, biology was just the description of nature; only after Darwin was it a theoretically based science.

       Darwin’s first contribution is the mechanism of natural selection. Regarding the second one, before him all theories of evolution had essentialist typological approach that species have the essence that remains unchanged and therefore cannot turn into other species. Darwin left such a stance and introduced populationist approach where variability is the basic reality, and what is perceived as type is approximation. After Darwin, there is the approach and mechanism to understand processes of evolution.

       Dr Tarasjev disagrees with the terms such as “Darwinism”, “evolutionism”, “evolutionists” that occur even within the discourse of biologists, for it leads to ideology (for instance, in physics no one would say “Einstenism”). These terms are welcomed by the promoters of pseudoscientific ideas so that to make the opposition between creationists on one, and evolutionists on the other side. That is not “Darwinism” or “evolutionism” but evolutionary biology, that is, contemporary biology whose basis is the theory of evolution.

       The discussion turned to attempts that the theory of evolution is excluded from the educational system in Serbia. Dr Tarasjev in that sense mentioned that different creationisms exist. Contemporary creationism originated from American fundamentalism – that is where the idea of the theory of evolution exclusion came from. According to him, the advocates of that idea in Serbia are not professional to discuss the matters. They think if they do not understand something, it is unclear to the entire mankind. If a person is a linguist, they have to understand that the mechanisms are different. Even in linguistic terms, although a language could not originate from another one, they may have the same origin. The initiation of the petition thus, according to the author, brings their professional competence into question. Additionally, they should not try to discuss matters in evolutionary biology since they do not belong to that scientific field.