[Nebullis]

If the difference MAKES NO FUNCTIONAL DIFFERENCE, natural selection CANNOT RESULT IN THE PROLIFERATION OF THAT DIFFERENCE.

It can. The simplest example is codon reduncy. Mutations in two bases will be neutral until, and this is key, until a certain third base is changed, at which time the neutral changes are fixed by selection together with the third change. Similarly, neutral changes can take place in non-functional regions of proteins.

Not everything falls under natural selection. There are other forces and constraints such as physical and developmental, which act on evolution.

[maro]

Tell me how a mutation that makes no functional difference can be the subject of natural selection. Put another way, what is there to select? Why would an individual having the mutation proliferate, when by assumption there is no functional difference. You are making no sense.