David: at the same time the same events Carl Woese interview (Introduction)

by dhw, Friday, May 20, 2016, 13:24 (3108 days ago) @ David Turell

dhw: I get tired of one side claiming that Darwin explains everything, and the other that Darwin explains nothing. I like to distinguish between those aspects of the theory that I accept, and those that I reject. - DAVID: Please clarify what other points you accept beyond common descent and competition for survival. - I accept that variations within species may be explained by their adjustment to environmental conditions, and that natural selection decides which variations and innovations will survive in which environment. Please note, I am not claiming that Darwin was the first to come up with all these ideas. But they are integral to his theory, and I accept them. - To complete the picture, I do not accept that random mutations are the mechanism that drives innovation, that nature does not make jumps (goodbye to Darwin's insistence on gradualism), and that natural selection explains the ORIGIN of species; it only explains their survival.