Life as Evolving Software... (Chaitin) (Humans)

by David Turell , Monday, December 26, 2011, 18:14 (4515 days ago) @ xeno6696

Adding to the confusion is the charge by David where he claims that for example, in the case of whales, that "Gradualism cannot be the cause." What I am sure of however is that David appears to be claiming that these whales don't have a common ancestor... that the normal transfer of genetic information over time cannot be creative enough.

Of course genetic material passes from generation to generation. My observation, like Gould's, looks at the gaps in the fossil record. When you look at one whale ancestor to the next there are large changes in phenotype. Darwin's itty-bitty changes that He anticipated do not exist! This is why Gould and Eldridge came up with PE, and PE has not disappeared in the 30 or so years since their paper.

As for the explosions in the fossil record--we can only make claims on what we witness. If you combine our knowledge of how genetic information is passed on, with the fossil record--there is only one reasonable conclusion--given the evidence at hand. Evolution can speed up and slow down its processes given demand.

See the recent entry (this past week) in Sandwalk, Larry Moran's blog on the subject of piling up lots of genes in preceding geologic eras before the Cambrian Explosion. This is really on point. Why did the genes pile up well before the event. We don't know the answer, but there is something about DNA that appears to anticipate and allow evolution to speed up or slow down. What is really active is the piling up of the available new genes in advance.

In summary: I can't see beyond a G1-->G2 transmission of information being a key driver for observed changes in the fossil record. I identify this process as synonymous to gradualism, and therefore cannot step down the same path as David and yourself.

You need to look beyond your current view. The paradigm is changing.