-----Original Message----- From: Nick Arnett <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: Killer Bs Discussion <[email protected]> Sent: Fri, 12 May 2006 07:16:14 -0700 Subject: Re: Elegant science (was Re: Scientific methodology)
On 5/11/06, [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > On the other hand the notion that evolution has no emprical evidence is > simply untrue. That's hardly the same as saying there is no direct evidence. What I meant, if it wasn't clear, is that nobody was observing evolution over the last few million years. True, though somewhat trivial. (And lest anyone jumping in here takes this out of context, I am *not* arguing against evolution as science.) But we have observed the consequences of evolution. Hypothesis about the mechanisms of evolutions are offered and then data from the field is sought to determine of these hypotheses are correct or not. For instance, since humans were initally lactose intolerant otuside of childhood one can hypothesis that the genetic (or allelle if you prerfer) that allows adults to digest lactose would be more common in those cultures that have a long history of pastoralism. This hypothesis has been tested and found to be true. One can readily observe evolution in real time if one looks at organisms with short generation times. Any time one heres of organisms developing resistance to antibiotics one is taliking about evolution via natural selection. It is ironic that opposition to the notion of evolution runs highest in those who see and deal with its effects on a daily basis. Farmers use pesticides and watch as the pests become resistant and pass this resistance on to their offspring. A per fect example of natural selection in action. As for whether or not there is elegance in the theory of evolution, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. My only pointis that elegence in the usual sense that it is used in science means mathematical elegance. Natural selection has none of this. Deep abstract thinkers over the past 150 have been more likely to dismiss natural selection rather than embrace it because it seems too simple or too weak. It is those who work in the field, the paleontolgists taxonomists, environmental scientists and geneticsits who understand the power that natural selection provides as an explanatory and organizing principle for their empiric observations. Nick -- Nick Arnett [EMAIL PROTECTED] Messages: 408-904-7198 _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
