The simplest explanation? (Evolution)

by David Turell , Sunday, November 01, 2020, 15:19 (1481 days ago) @ George Jelliss

dhw The idea that natural selection is the key to the origin of species is frankly absurd. Natural selection does not create anything. It only works on what already exists.

George: I see nothing absurd about it at all. It's just basic Darwinian evolution.

As to the work of Shapiro. As I've said I've not looked into his theories before.
However it does seem there may be something in his ideas, but they remain controversial,
particularly as they seem to attract the interest of ID creationists.
The following link seems to be a balanced assessment, though short on detail.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_genetic_engineering

Since dhw raised my thoughts into your discussion, I'll simply note the obvious. Shapiro's work was totally on bacteria, which are fully free living and must have responses to their environment which enhance survival. The possible sources for that ability are either learned/developed over time or by design. The issue for me is there is no answer as to how they survived while learning.