Evolution took a long time; catagorizing econiches (Introduction)

by David Turell , Thursday, October 12, 2017, 14:45 (2599 days ago) @ dhw

DAVID: My point is pattern planning to make the process of evolution simpler. Your point is correct after the patterns are set up.

dhw: I know you think your God planned everything in advance. My point is that organisms would have worked out their own patterns and passed them on. I don’t know why that should be seen as less simple than your God working all the patterns out 3.8 billion years ago and getting the first cells to pass them on and on and on until the new environments and organisms appeared.

DAVID: And my point is all organisms with skeletons have the same pattern to start with.

Agreed. Clear evidence of common descent. That’s all.

DAVID: All adaptations are variations on the same theme. Simplifies the job of evolution. Still doesn't explain speciation, but your theoretical organisms easily know how to modify?

dhw: All agreed, except that I don’t understand why you insert “easily”. My hypothesis is that the cell communities know how to modify, and it may be that your God gave them that knowledge and the means to implement it (“cellular intelligence”). Personally, I would see that as simpler than your God preprogramming every change to be passed on through 3.8 billion years or having to make personal interventions, e.g. when the dear old weaverbird fails to tie his knots (or was his nest also preprogrammed?)

I view epigenetic adaptations as 'easy' modifications of existing patterns, and I assume that following a pervious pattern makes speciation easier to accomplish.