On Sat, 12 Apr 97 23:55:33 CDT, Wesley R. Elsberry wrote:
WE>The topic was discussed on talk.origins back in 1995, with Walter
>ReMine himself pressing the difficulties of Haldane's dilemma.
>Andy Peters and Chris Colby asserted that Haldane's dilemma only
>arose with a "hard selection" scenario; under "soft selection" it
>just wasn't the problem that ReMine claimed. ReMine, of course,
>remained unconvinced.
First of all - welcome to the Reflector. You will notice that I have
just commented on Pim's posting of a book review of Johnson's Darwin
on Trial.
I would appreciate it if you would explain what "hard selection" and
"soft selection" are.
WE>ReMine had also asserted that Haldane's dilemma could be seen in
>the operation of evolution simulations. Upon this point, I
>challenged ReMine to name the simulation which showed the
>difficulties of HD, to specify how such difficulties were
>recognized or quantified, and basically to have the whole issue put
>to empirical test. I offered to modify an existing program to use
>the "soft selection" described by Peters and Colby, and then we
>would see if the problems went away as Peters and Colby asserted,
>or remained as ReMine asserted.
Would you mind if I sent a copy of your comments to Walter to
give him the right of reply? I have no guarantee he will reply,
since my past attempts to lure him back to the Reflector have
failed.
WE>ReMine did not produce the name of the simulation that he had
>claimed showed the problem, nor any indication of how one
>recognized the problem in a simulation. It seems to me that he
>missed a great opportunity to try out his idea.
ReMine actually names one in his book, ie. Dawkin's "Methinks it
is like a Weasel" simulation:
"Thus, the simulation-with its numerous unrealistic assumptions that
favor evolution-is less than five times faster than Haldane's estimate
of 300 generations per substitution. Ironically, this suggests that
Haldane was too optimistic about the speed of evolution.' (ReMine
W.J., "The Biotic Message: Evolution Versus Message
Theory", St. Paul Science: Saint Paul MN, 1993, p236).
ReMine's failure to produce this simulation is hardly his fault - Dawkins'
claims he has lost it:
"The computer simulation that Dawkins used for his book is lost
(Dawkins, 1991, personal letter)" (ReMine W.J., "The Biotic Message,
1993, p235).
Regards.
Steve
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