Re: Web Page Nonlinear dynamics

RDehaan237@aol.com
Tue, 25 Feb 1997 08:16:39 -0500 (EST)

Glenn,

You wrote, "Who or how the goal is chosen does not make a difference in the
mechanics of selection." Yes it does make a difference. If the goal is
chosen by a human agent it is artifical selection. Natural selection has no
human agent. There is only one goal in natural selection--immediate survival.
In Darwinian theory, nature "chooses" that goal.

You wrote, "Surely all the thousands of people involved in the selection of
great milk cows, did not get together and consciously decide that they would
all chose the same traits." Whether they got together and consciously decide
what to choose is completely irrelevant.

You wrote, "Is the apparently future need for plants and animals to be able
to survive on a hotter planet earth an intentionally chosen goal or is it
natural selection?" A "hotter planet earth" was not a intentionally chosen
goal, as you very well know. The answer to your question: natural
selection.

You wrote, "Men had a goal (purpose) of a better life but it changed the
temperature of the planet. Animals must now adapt to a "goal" that was
inadvertently chosen for them. But it was purposeful." The changed
temperature is inadvertent. It is a by-product of a real goal "a better
life". It is not a goal. It was not chosen for them. It was not purposeful.

Bob