Genome complexity: variation within species (Introduction)

by dhw, Monday, December 12, 2016, 15:40 (2689 days ago) @ David Turell

DAVID: On the other hand the article clearly suggests there are variable individuals in the species some of whom can handle the pollution and survive.

dhw: You are repeating precisely what I have just said, and what I repeat later: "But what is really interesting is the variability between individuals. This would explain how common descent works. Changes can only take place in individuals, and individuals are different. So some will respond to environmental change and others won’t. The same point is made in the second article you have quoted, and in my view fits in perfectly with the hypothesis that evolution is driven by individual intelligences.

DAVID: I am emphasizing individual differences in the variability in species, which means, as I pointed out in bacteria, some have alternate pathways already on board, or are partially immune to begin with. That means new adaptations don't have to be invented. Reproduction between partially immune or pollution resistant individuals will solve the issue as more fit individuals appear on the scene in a few generations.

I am also talking about individual differences in the variability in species, because both adaptations and innovations must take place in individuals. The number of threats to bacterial existence must be absolutely colossal, since they are able to adapt to so many different environments. Your theory therefore demands that they have the same number of “alternate pathways” (not alternative?) on board. So your God has provided them with all these pathways, and without knowing what they’re doing, they simply switch on the correct one when they encounter the appropriate change in conditions? And as I have asked before, what is the use of partial immunity? Does it enable them to be just partially dead? Why is your theory more likely than the hypothesis that some individuals are able to work out a counter to the threat, and then “reproduction between immune or pollution resistant individuals will solve the issue as more fit individuals appear on the scene in a few generations”?