Re: 1980 Eldredge: "time to reexamine" theory of NS

On Wed, 3 Dec 2003 00:13:07 +0000 (UTC), 
Lenny Flank <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> david ford <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message news:<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>...
>> On Mon, 1 Dec 2003, Tracy Hamilton wrote:
>> david ford:
>> 
>> > > Eldredge, Niles.  July 1980.  "An Extravagance of Species"
>> > > _Natural History_, 47-51.  Paragraphs from 48, 50, and 51:
>> >
>> > I agree that 1980 was a good time to re-examine the role of natural
>> > selection.  What do *you* think the outcome was, since this has been
>> > done?
>> >
>> > Please use your own words, as we have seen no evidence of any
>> > understanding on your part.
>> 
>> Except for a few fervent believers such as Dawkins, those that have
>> considered the major problems with the theory of natural selection 
>> have concluded that the theory cannot account for the _how_ of how 
>> the biological world developed in the course of the earth's 4.5 
>> billion year existence, and have concluded that the theory does not 
>> find confirmation in the fossil record, particularly at those 
>> locations in the fossil record where we have particularly good and 
>> numerous specimens.
> 
> Horse shit.
> 
> Name five degreed biologists who reject this.  

I think the *majority* of evolutionary biologists would agree that the
theory of natural selection is not sufficient to account for the history
of life.

One might quibble with the exact wording of David Ford's statement
but it's essentially correct. His problem (and yours too, apparently)
is that he doesn't know that modern evolutionary theory includes
much more than just natural selection.



Larry Moran