More Denton: Another review of Denton's new book (Introduction)

by dhw, Friday, May 27, 2016, 13:11 (3102 days ago) @ David Turell

I will make my own selection of quotes: - "Denton himself considers that pentadactyly, and similar examples, constitute good evidence for common descent itself, but I should remind you that the nested heirarchy was formerly, by those like Linnaeus, considered telling evidence for the special creation of every possible species by God.” - I would have thought it was obvious that common structures like the pentadactyl are evidence for Darwin's theory of common descent. Clearly Denton thinks so too. - "If there are emergent laws of form, as Denton argues, then gradualism is no longer a requirement in evolution. He consistently argues that the evidence from the fossil record, taxonomy and much genetics is that the important changes were relatively, at least, saltational.” - How many more times do we have to agree that Darwin's gradualism is out? - “Such discontinuities have no known, and in most cases no conceivable, adaptive origin. They arose de novo - and perhaps they even arose more than once in different lineages, as some examples of “convergent evolution” suggest. In such cases (a majority, in fact, of taxon-defining features), not only do we have no clear knowledge of the ancestors in which they occurred, but it doesn't appear to matter much anyway. “ (David's bold) - I don't know why you have put this in bold. How many more times do we have to agree that Darwin's gradualism is out? - "Meanwhile, I'll just ask you to consider whether the obsession of biology with common ancestry would have any purpose whatsoever if the day came when Darwinian gradualism were finally concluded to have only secondary importance for the origin of the species." - How many more times, many more times, more times, times….? - David's comment: If Darwin evolution was truly at random why the fixed patterns from the beginning of Pentadactyl forms? Note my bold. It all looks like saltation of complexities. This review fits my point of view exactly. - How many more times do we have to agree that Darwin's randomness is out? The fixed patterns are clear evidence of common descent. Adaptations and improvements must work swiftly if they are to survive, so how many more times do we have to agree that Darwin's gradualism is out? Saltation of innovations, engineered by the autonomous intelligence of cells - yep, fits my hypothesis exactly (see also under “Defining life”).