Animals with traits that are beneficial to the environment can live longer and potentially contribute more to the gene pool.
The latter is all that matters (biological fitness, or how many viable offspring are produced) in natural selection. Lifespan and any greater purpose (benefit to the environment) are not applicable.
As I see your revision it seems you are more careful in describing NS, but does your view on NS escape being a tautology?
Since contributing to the gene pool is the only definition you give, it either has no result (the author calls that a 'lame' definition, since it isolates the proces of NS so that it no longer tries to explain evolution), or the result is a difference in the gene pool (that is: a difference in the frequencies of genes) after one or several generations, and then we have a tautology again.
Natural selection
- 06/08/2011 03:51:26 PM
1020 Views
selection for suitability
- 06/08/2011 04:18:51 PM
669 Views
Thanks for your responce 
- 06/08/2011 04:41:20 PM
784 Views
- 06/08/2011 04:41:20 PM
784 Views
I can't speak for LadyLorraine and won't try, but here's how I see it:
- 06/08/2011 06:49:49 PM
715 Views
Just a question
- 06/08/2011 07:18:09 PM
711 Views
Yes it can
- 06/08/2011 07:41:59 PM
590 Views
But how?
- 06/08/2011 07:52:10 PM
783 Views
Re: Just a question
- 06/08/2011 07:49:21 PM
804 Views
I'm not sure I understand you
- 06/08/2011 08:20:44 PM
694 Views
All tautologies are truisms, but not all truisms are tautologies.
- 06/08/2011 09:38:12 PM
713 Views
Then it is still a tautology
- 06/08/2011 09:45:33 PM
730 Views
You can know it's beneifical to a particular individual, but it's harder to say for populations.
- 06/08/2011 10:18:16 PM
825 Views
Maybe...
- 07/08/2011 01:55:54 PM
682 Views
I'm more inclined toward his logic, but possibly toward your conclusions.
- 09/08/2011 12:45:46 AM
763 Views
we can't really know ahead of time what makes a specific trait benefical in that environment
- 09/08/2011 06:16:02 PM
837 Views
As I understand it
- 06/08/2011 06:04:44 PM
657 Views
Better...
- 06/08/2011 06:36:38 PM
644 Views
Did you perhaps mean "beneficial in the environment" rather than "beneficial to the environment"?
- 06/08/2011 06:34:44 PM
773 Views
yes. I did not really phrase that very clearly. *NM*
- 09/08/2011 06:14:11 PM
307 Views
No biggy; from what Bram said, I underestimated how well you were understood anyway.
- 09/08/2011 06:45:16 PM
707 Views
Hmmm... there's some truth to that
- 06/08/2011 06:36:35 PM
729 Views
The complexity of the problem makes it all but impossible to falsify...
- 06/08/2011 08:26:06 PM
757 Views
The questions go deeper
- 06/08/2011 08:38:31 PM
761 Views
Re: The questions go deeper
- 06/08/2011 09:10:32 PM
739 Views
I think I know why you don't understand my question.
- 06/08/2011 09:38:41 PM
768 Views
How many equation's has Moraine screwed up? 
*NM*
- 06/08/2011 09:45:36 PM
315 Views
*NM*
- 06/08/2011 09:45:36 PM
315 Views
100% I think Moriaine is a very beneficial trait that contributes a lot to the RAFO pool *NM*
- 06/08/2011 09:46:54 PM
336 Views
*NM*
- 06/08/2011 09:46:54 PM
336 Views
Re: Natural selection
- 07/08/2011 03:00:30 AM
743 Views
Thanks a lot
- 07/08/2011 01:38:39 PM
882 Views
2 things
- 07/08/2011 04:00:35 PM
650 Views
Re: 2 things
- 07/08/2011 04:33:00 PM
864 Views
Re: 2 things
- 07/08/2011 05:48:26 PM
677 Views
My best guess
- 07/08/2011 06:00:28 PM
712 Views
Re: My best guess
- 07/08/2011 06:37:58 PM
650 Views
Re: My best guess
- 07/08/2011 06:47:26 PM
807 Views