Active Users:408 Time:04/04/2025 07:11:10 AM
Actually Praziquantel Send a noteboard - 06/08/2011 10:13:51 PM
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.

'Contributing to the gene pool' is a very vague phrase to use. I clarified what I meant to make the definition more specific. Under natural selection the 'purpose' (if you will) of living is to reproduce as much as you can and leave behind as many offspring as possible. Now, you can get into genetic theories and rationalize that, every offspring will have slightly different genomes due to genetic recombination and spontaneous mutations, which can have good, bad, or neutral consequences in terms of future biological fitness (the ability to produce offspring). But it seems reasonable to me that given a diverse gene pool (which is facilitated by increased biological fitness), the population as a whole would be more likely to survive some calamity or other.

I don't understand where the tautology is in that.
Reply to message
Natural selection - 06/08/2011 03:51:26 PM 1075 Views
selection for suitability - 06/08/2011 04:18:51 PM 721 Views
Thanks for your responce - 06/08/2011 04:41:20 PM 838 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 778 Views
Just a question - 06/08/2011 07:18:09 PM 766 Views
Yes it can - 06/08/2011 07:41:59 PM 640 Views
But how? - 06/08/2011 07:52:10 PM 837 Views
Okay, I think I see what you're saying - 08/08/2011 05:30:43 PM 654 Views
Close - 08/08/2011 05:41:46 PM 854 Views
Re: Just a question - 06/08/2011 07:49:21 PM 860 Views
I'm not sure I understand you - 06/08/2011 08:20:44 PM 764 Views
All tautologies are truisms, but not all truisms are tautologies. - 06/08/2011 09:38:12 PM 781 Views
Then it is still a tautology - 06/08/2011 09:45:33 PM 791 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 893 Views
Maybe... - 07/08/2011 01:55:54 PM 751 Views
As I understand it - 06/08/2011 06:04:44 PM 711 Views
Better... - 06/08/2011 06:36:38 PM 696 Views
Actually - 06/08/2011 10:13:51 PM 786 Views
Re: Actually - 06/08/2011 10:37:33 PM 924 Views
Re: Actually - 06/08/2011 11:38:52 PM 852 Views
Oeh - 07/08/2011 01:54:19 PM 700 Views
Hmmm... there's some truth to that - 06/08/2011 06:36:35 PM 798 Views
Re: Hmmm... there's some truth to that - 06/08/2011 07:08:25 PM 798 Views
Re: Hmmm... there's some truth to that - 07/08/2011 12:46:23 AM 792 Views
The complexity of the problem makes it all but impossible to falsify... - 06/08/2011 08:26:06 PM 815 Views
The questions go deeper - 06/08/2011 08:38:31 PM 813 Views
Re: The questions go deeper - 06/08/2011 09:10:32 PM 800 Views
I think I know why you don't understand my question. - 06/08/2011 09:38:41 PM 819 Views
TalkOrigins addresses this at length. - 06/08/2011 11:14:52 PM 876 Views
Not very much, but interesting none the less - 06/08/2011 11:38:36 PM 869 Views
Re: Natural selection - 07/08/2011 03:00:30 AM 796 Views
Thanks a lot - 07/08/2011 01:38:39 PM 941 Views
2 things - 07/08/2011 04:00:35 PM 700 Views
Re: 2 things - 07/08/2011 04:33:00 PM 920 Views
Re: 2 things - 07/08/2011 05:48:26 PM 733 Views
My best guess - 07/08/2011 06:00:28 PM 764 Views
Re: My best guess - 07/08/2011 06:37:58 PM 707 Views
Re: My best guess - 07/08/2011 06:47:26 PM 861 Views
Re: My best guess - 07/08/2011 07:02:27 PM 709 Views
Re: My best guess - 07/08/2011 09:09:57 PM 819 Views

Reply to Message