Evolution v Creationism: guided evolution? dhw? (Evolution)

by David Turell , Friday, May 01, 2015, 02:56 (3493 days ago) @ dhw


> dhw: As for the grip story, I'm deeply, deeply sceptical. I really don't think for one minute that our ancestors suddenly found they had a new grip but didn't know what to do with it. It seems far more likely to me that the grip developed because our ancestors needed it for one purpose or another. I suspect that the same applies to all so-called exaptation's.-You totally miss the point about exaptation's. They appear well before any use of them is found and they are not necessary at the time of appearance. That is the definition of them.-> 
> dhw: And I have suggested that the descent of the larynx came about because our ancestors needed new ways of communicating. Once again we have a chicken and egg problem.-No we don't as I've explained above. Lucy had no idea she could one day learn to speak.-> dhw: Even the experts find it difficult to distinguish between adaptation and exaptation, but I was poo-pooing the grip example, not the whole concept. You always cling to your pre-planning, and I really don't see how the grip example proves anything. We know organisms can change their structure in order to adapt, and so it is not illogical to hypothesize that they might also change their structure to improve. -You are totally missing the time sequence and its import.
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> dhw: Your concept of fences is incomplete. Fences can be built to keep people in or out. I seem to spend most of my web-time knocking holes in those that theists (and in earlier times atheists) keep building in order to protect their own preconceptions!-I know you live your pickets, but aren't they a little sharp?