'evolution by jerks'

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  • October 29, 2019 at 11:33 am #107527
    wv
    Participant

    Gould:https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/cross-check/stephen-jay-gould-on-marx-kuhn-and-punk-meek/
    Stephen Jay Gould on Marx, Kuhn and Punk Meek
    Paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould was influenced by Marx and Kuhn as well as by Darwin
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    “…In 1972 Gould and Niles Eldredge extended this critique of uniformitarianism to biological evolution by introducing punctuated equilibrium (also called “punk eek” or “evolution by jerks”)…”
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    “…Gould suggested that the human brain, designed for survival in pre-industrial society, is simply not capable of solving certain problems. Research has shown that humans are inept at dealing with probabilities and the interactions of complex variables–such as nature and nurture. “People do not understand that if both genes and culture interact–of course they do–you can’t then say it’s 20 percent genes and 80 percent environment. You can’t do that. It’s not meaningful. The emergent property is the emergent property and that’s all you can ever say about it.”
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    “…Whereas most scientists seek to discern the signal underlying nature, Gould keeps drawing attention to the noise. After all, punctuated equilibrium is not really a theory; it is a description of noise. Gould’s view of life can be summed up by the old bumper-sticker slogan: Shit happens.”

    October 31, 2019 at 7:04 am #107596
    nittany ram
    Moderator

    Gould studied trilobites. I think that;s where he came up with the idea of punctuated equilibrium. In the fossil record of different varieties of trilobites, he noticed brief stretches of rapid morphological change (punctuated) followed by long periods where there was very little change (equilibrium). Evolution still followed Darwinian rules, it’s just the timing was different. Natural Selection was not about slow, incremental, changes over time. It occurred rapidly and then remained relatively static for long periods of time until something happened to restart the process like an extinction event.

    October 31, 2019 at 4:33 pm #107607
    wv
    Participant
    nittany ram wrote:

    Gould studied trilobites…
    … Natural Selection was not about slow, incremental, changes over time. It occurred rapidly and then remained relatively static for long periods of time until something happened to restart the process like an extinction event.

    =================

    Exactly as our Lord Creator wanted it.

    The Lord works through Trilobytes.

    w
    v

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