Posted on 11/09/2005 5:02:50 PM PST by kpp_kpp
from answers.com: evolution: Change in the genetic composition of a population during successive generations, as a result of natural selection acting on the genetic variation among individuals, and resulting in the development of new species.
I believe that natural selection is accepted by creationists. (most?) But the definition of evolution ends with the result being a new species.
Am I missing something that that natural selection is now being referred and officially termed micro-evolution? Is there a reason for this beyond the promotion of evolution into an area accepted by creationists?
Beware the penguins.........
i should have known that picture was coming on this thread.
When proponents of evolution decided to make natural selection synonomous with evolution.
Creationists realised there was confusion in the general public (encouraged by the MSM) over the the difference between natural selection/microevolution (which can be observed, tested, etc.) and "macro" evolution,)which can't be observed, tested, because it supposedly occurs over periods of millions, or billions of years, which is beyond the lifetime of a person to observe and test.)
Finally, someone who may be able to answer my question. If natural selection can be observed and tested, what physical event or process, does natural selection explain, that isn't already explained by mutation, drift, recombination, and heredity.
And that definition is in turn complicated by the need to define an equivalence relation for "species" (i.e. a definition with the property that, there does not exist any set of three animals X, Y, and Z such that X is of the same species as Y and Z, but Y and Z are not the same species as each other.).
Actually, even if one accepts a fairly tight definition of species, it's not inconceivable that a population which is geographically split into disjoint populations which are geographically incapable of interbreding (e.g. because an ice flow transported them too far apart) might, over enough succeeding generations, diverge enough to be called different species.
On the other hand, accepting that a rare combination of events could occur on occasion to produce a new species still leaves open the 'problem' for evolutionists that there is way too much diversity of life on this planet for such events to account for all of it (or even most of it).
you won't find me defending creationists trying to use natural science to prove God/the Bible/etc. but I'm not blind to the holes in evolution either.
"On the other hand, accepting that a rare combination of events could occur on occasion to produce a new species still leaves open the 'problem' for evolutionists that there is way too much diversity of life on this planet for such events to account for all of it (or even most of it)."
ironic that the age of the earth has gotten older the more we know about it yet there is still a conflict between what is statistically possible and the current accepted age of the earth (both in the underwhelming number of fossils and the overwhelming variety in the non-extinct species). it is almost as if there is a hidden dispute within evolution between the geological/astronomical determined age and the biological determined age. (ok maybe not so hidden)
is natural selection not just a term that takes all of those into account?
Processes like mutation, drift, recombination, and heredity contribute to natural selection because they affect how an organism co-exists with its own environment.
This is interesting. Creationists do not have any qualms with natural selection. We call it speciation, not evolution...certainly not macroevolution.
"I believe that natural selection is accepted by creationists. (most?) But the definition of evolution ends with the result being a new species."
This is the kind of hazy understanding of evolution that you get listening to creationists.
"Macroevolution" is nothing more than "microevolution" acting over a much longer period of time (making it hard to observe). There's no fundamental difference between the two aside from that. There is also no such thing as a definitive point in time when something becomes a new species. As I said on another thread:
"That's because defining a specie, from an evolutionary standpoint, basically involves drawing arbitrary lines to break up a smooth continuum. 'Species' are a human-imposed division used to make classifying things easier for study. There is no absolute natural definition for one."
Basically, after something microevolves long enough to be an obviously different type of organism, it gets called a different species and people look back and say that it macroevolved.
Well, if natural selection can describe any given genetic state, of any given population of organisms, then I don't see how it is either testable or falsifiable, let alone useful in a scientific theory.
"Dooo beee dooo beee doooo...."
No offense, but you're not making any sense here. If a species or population develops a trait ( via survival, breeding, inheritance) then in what way have they not survived, bred, or passed on their genes...including trait X.
As your statement stands, I don't think a logical contradiction is evidence of an observation that in principle could falsify natural selection.
If, for example, a culture of bacteria was routinely exposed to an antibiotic that it was previously immune to, it would be a violation of natural selection if that culture's future generations slowly started becoming susceptible to it's effects
Again, you're not making any sense.
It's not a violation of natural selection if an organism, or group of organisms, fail to inherit any given trait, beneficial or otherwise...and if they did inherit the trait, and it's dominant, then you have another logical contradiction on your hands. The only other alternative is that the trait is recessive, which again, is not a violation of natural selection
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.