[Ethan Clive Osgoode]

Darwin didn’t even know about electrons or genetics, much less DNA. Do we build on Darwin’s work the same way we build on other great scientists? You bet. But to equate developmental biology with Darwinism is to be 80 years out of date.

I take it that you agree that the particular principle of Darwin's that I mentioned above is false and transparently idiotic. Unfortunately his whole subsequent reasoning was based on it. But even if we expunge Darwin from evolution, it does not solve the problem because, you see, Ernst Mayr (a Darwin Medalist) repeats the very same principle in 2001.

[gondramB]

>>I take it that you agree that the particular principle of Darwin’s that I mentioned above is false and transparently idiotic. Unfortunately his whole subsequent reasoning was based on it.<<

I was deliberately dodging that for a couple of reasons. One is that I’m a physicist by education who was coerced into teaching biology for one year so I don’t want to present myself as knowledgable about biology.

The other reason is that even conceding that a scientist was wrong about something 150 years ago just means he was wrong - it doesn’t effect what the evidence says to day.

>>But even if we expunge Darwin from evolution, it does not solve the problem because, you see, Ernst Mayr (a Darwin Medalist) repeats the very same principle in 2001.<<

I’ll look that up and read it.