Re: evolution
anon wrote:
> "David" <David@home.org> wrote in message
> news:P1E0d.34706$w_4.5565358@twister.tampabay.rr.com..
>
>
> a model of physical reality is a model, but the intent is to explain the
> workings of reality, and not categorization. categories are mental,
> while interactions are physical.
So in your world the physical has ontological supremacy. Tell me, how do
you talk about the physical without the mental?
>
>
>
> please teach me - my background is physics/engineering and you'll have to
> explain the physical process by which new chomosomes appeared
> ("physicists are linguistically challenged"). your
> explanation is linguistic ("changes" to what?) . from a physical point of
> view
> the transmission from parent to offspring is using dna. that is where the
> explanations have to be tested.
>
> a jump from 44 (or whatever) number of chromosomes to 46 is mathematically
> discontinous. one generation had 44, the next had 46. there cannot be a
> gradual
> jump between integers. what is the mechanism?
>
>
What the theory says is simple. If you want to use your DNA example we
can. Two beings with 44 pairs of chromosomes mate, they have an
offspring that, for whatever reason, has 46 pairs. That offspring either
dies without procreating, procreates but doesn't pass on the extra
pairs, or procreates and passes on those genes. If it is the last then
it possible that after awhile the population of these beings will be
mixed 44 and 46 pair chromosomes. If something happens in their
environment that gives an advantage to the 46 pair beings, they may
survive while the 44 pair variety die out. Done. (Don't think 44 and 46
chromosome varieties can procreate? read some about hermaphrodism).
Of course, this is a simplification, and as I said, the theory does not
explain emergence, it only explains backward.
And as for physicists being challenged linguistically, not so at all.
They just have a different language of specialization. Still, that is
not an excuse for not using your brain to think through a problem. I
encourage you not to trash an entire theoretical world unless you
understand it first. There are lots of problems with evolutionary
theory, but the one you are trying to pick out is not one of them.
David
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