On Mon, 9 Jun 97 17:57:53 CDT, Wesley R. Elsberry wrote:
WE>The first paragraph of Origin of Species indicates that the
>reporter, at least, needs a refresher course. Note the word used
>there: "coadaptation". Not "adaptation". Claiming that a raw,
>spite-only competition represents the whole of Darwin's argument
>for natural selection is a *gross* misrepresentation.
It might not be "the whole of Darwin's argument for natural
selection" but neither is it "a *gross* misrepresentation" to
claim that "a raw, spite-only competition" was central to Darwin's
argument. After all, he summed up his theory on the last paragraph of
the "Origin of Species" by describing, nature as a "war":
"Thus, from the war of nature, from famine and death, the most
exalted object which we are capable of conceiving, namely, the
production of the higher animals, directly follows." (Darwin C.,
"The Origin of Species", 6th edition, 1872, Everyman's Library, 1967,
pp462-463)
On Tue, 10 Jun 97 20:03:49 CDT, Wesley R. Elsberry wrote:
WE>...Darwin stated that natural selection would only operate
>intermittently, at long intervals.
That would be true if a "Iong interval" was a *day* or an *hour*,
because Darwin stated quite clearly that natural selection operated
"daily and hourly":
"It may metaphorically be said that natural selection is daily and
hourly scrutinising, throughout the world, the slightest variations;
rejecting those that are bad, preserving and adding up all that are
good; silently and insensibly working, whenever and wherever
opportunity offers, at the improvement of each organic being in
relation to its organic and inorganic conditions of life." (Darwin,
1872, p83)
Regards.
Steve
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