I think Wagner and Monod agree, actually. If I extrapolate what Jenny said Wagner said, *mutation's* randomness is a statement of ignorance, presumably about where innovation comes from in biological evolution. So, both Monod and Wagner would say innovation comes from mutation.
On 08/09/2017 10:22 AM, Grant Holland wrote: > According to Jacques Monod, chance mutations are the /only /form of > innovation in living systems. > > On p. 112 of his book "Chance and Necessity" he says "...since they [chance > mutations] constitute the /only/ possible source of modifications in the > genetic text,...it necessarily follows that chance /alone/ is at the source > of every innovation, of all creation in the biosphere. [Emphasis is his.] > On 8/9/17 10:01 AM, Steven A Smith wrote: >> >> Jenny - >> >> What a powerful quote: >> >> /Natural selection can //preserve//innovations, but it cannot >> create them./ >> On 8/9/17 8:56 AM, Jenny Quillien wrote: >>> >>> An excellent foray into such a topic is /Arrival of the Fittest: how nature >>> innovates/ by Andreas Wagner. >>> >>> From the Preface: the power of natural selection is beyond dispute, but >>> this power has limits. Natural selection can /preserve/ innovations, but it >>> cannot create them. And calling the change that creates them random is just >>> another way of admitting our ignorance about it. Nature's any innovations- >>> some uncannily perfect - call for natural principles that accelerate life's >>> ability to innovate, its innovability. -- ☣ glen ============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove
