Reciprocating Bill
Posts: 4265
Joined: Oct. 2006
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Gould argued throughout The Structure of Evolutionary Theory that, while retaining its essential Darwinian core, evolutionary theory has markedly advanced since Darwin, resulting in significant revisions of our view of the causal agency, creative potency and scope of Darwin's mechanism. Throughout the entire 1,400 pages of SOET Gould both argued for the importance and the retention Darwin's essential insights (hence his acknowledgement of the creative role of natural selection among individual organisms in building complex adaptations) AND that considerable new theoretical superstructure has been built upon them, augmenting the essential Darwinian core with several contemporary insights. These include the role of historical and developmental constraints, the role of contingency, evo-devo, the reality of levels of selection, and so on - levels of explanation that account for facts regarding the large scale patterning of the history of life on earth that selection alone cannot. And, of course, these were central interests of Gould's that distinguished him from Dawkins and Dennett and indeed engendered friction with them.
The cover illustration of SOET (a painting of the branching structure of a fossil coral) depicts this sense of both retaining an essential Darwinian core while both pruning and extending the theory in several directions. Gould both embraced Darwin and rebuilt his vision of evolutionary theory to include factors that go far beyond Darwin - as well one would expect of a a living science.
Denyse, noting that your Berlinski quote is from 1988, I'd suggest again that you READ THE FUCKING LITERATURE before shooting your fool mouth off.
ETA: O'Leary believes that Stephen Jay Gould might have taken issue with THIS??
| Quote | | Evolution is a vital, well-supported, unifying principle of the biological sciences, and the scientific evidence is overwhelmingly in favor of the idea that all living things share a common ancestry. Although there are legitimate debates about the patterns and processes of evolution, there is no serious scientific doubt that evolution occurred or that natural selection is a major mechanism in its occurrence. It is scientifically inappropriate and pedagogically irresponsible for creationist pseudoscience, including but not limited to "intelligent design," to be introduced into the science curricula of our nation's public schools. |
She's out of her mind.
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Myth: Something that never was true, and always will be.
"The truth will set you free. But not until it is finished with you."
- David Foster Wallace
"Here’s a clue. Snarky banalities are not a substitute for saying something intelligent. Write that down."
- Barry Arrington
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