Natural Selection and what it didn\'t do for dogs... (Evolution)

by George Jelliss , Crewe, Monday, January 25, 2010, 11:40 (5226 days ago) @ dhw

dhw quotes a definition of natural selection from The New Fontana Dictionary of Modern Thought:-"...The theory asserts that EVOLUTION occurs because those individuals of a SPECIES whose characteristics best fit them for survival are the ones which contribute most offspring to the next generation. These offspring will tend to have the characteristics by virtue of which their parents survived, and in this way the adaptation of the species to its ENVIRONMENT will gradually be improved. It is now generally accepted that natural selection, acting on MUTATIONS which are in their origin non-adaptive, is the primary cause of evolution."-Then he deliberately misquotes it:-It's an argument against statements like the following:
 
"Natural selection [...] is the primary cause of evolution" (Fontana Dictionary). -"Natural selection" means nothing without something from which to select. -The full title of Darwin's book is: "On the Origin of Species by means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life".

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GPJ