Darwin & Wallace (Evolution)

by David Turell , Wednesday, September 30, 2015, 14:41 (3340 days ago) @ dhw


> dhw: In Origin, Darwin acknowledges Wallace several times, along with dozens of other “observers”. That is what we call research. However, your posts have set me googling, and I have found an account of the events that led up to the joint presentation of their work on natural selection in 1858. I find it very revealing and also very moving, and I hope it will give you a rather more sympathetic view of Darwin. It's too long to reproduce here, and so I'll post it separately.-I admit some of my historical facts were fuzzy, but over the years Wallace did much more on-site observation than Darwin. And my favoritism for Wallace is caused by the fact that he is the Father of intelligent Design in an historical sense. The 100th anniversary of his death in 2013 brought out all sorts of stories which I looked at and realized how important his contributions were. I hadn't heard of him before which surprised me. Darwin was upper class and Wallace not. Did that contribute?-Back to Darwin: All I have is evolution by common descent, method unproven. And I think it was guided, as the only explanation for the jumps in complexity that were not required by natural forces at play. Bacteria did not need multicellularity, and apes did not need upright posture and big brains. These appeared without environmental pressure. Therefore the best interpretation of evolution is that there is a built in drive to complexity, as I stated in my first book. Since such an impetus reasonably does not appear by chance, I have accepted design and guidance.