Back to David's theory of evolution: stasis,Darwin's problem (Evolution)

by David Turell , Saturday, August 22, 2020, 18:35 (1552 days ago) @ dhw

DAVID: Punctuated equilibrium was a theoretical answer that doesn't work:
https://aeon.co/essays/catastrophe-drives-evolution-but-life-resides-in-the-pauses

QUOTE: "Evolutionary biologists have documented countless examples of rapid evolutionary change in the past few decades. Most of these are in species that are experiencing some sort of extreme environmental disturbance, such as invaders that have been released into a novel habitat or plants that rapidly adapt to the toxic soil of mine tailings. All of these examples show us that substantial evolutionary change can happen rapidly. They suggest that natural selection, rather than being a slow and gradual shaper of species, is most evident in brief bursts of change following major disruption. (David’s bold)

dhw: All of this, including your bold, is a description of punctuated equilibrium. It DOES work! It's Darwin's gradualism that doesn't work.

DAVID: The term is descriptive, not a working mechanism.

dhw: You said it didn't work as a theoretical answer. I took this to mean you didn't think the theory was correct.

DAVID: It is a description of what we observe in evolution. There is no proof of it as a theory.

dhw: Nevertheless, I thought you were in favour of it, since you believe species all arose suddenly, having been directly designed by your God. Do you now favour Darwin’s gradualism, or do you agree that there have been long periods of stasis followed by “brief bursts of change”? This is a genuine question.

I fully believe in stasis which creates gaps of new development followed by sudden changes. Gould's Darwinian invention is obviously just descriptive of the gaps that troubled him with an attempted explanation that described species isolating/becoming isolated and redesigning themselves. Proves nothing. A thought experiment that is fruitless about an explanation.