>> Lee Spetner's discussion of information obscures his real position-
>> a form of neo Lamarckism.
Art:
> How so? This assertion can hold no more for Spetner than is true
> for Cairns and other well-known molecular biologists from whom
> Spetner derived his data. He advocated nothing lamarckish that
> is not implicit in the data of Cairns and others, that I could
> detect.
[...]
I suspect that Spetner is advocating something somewhat
distinct from what Cairns and Hall have presented.
Spetner writes in the book's epilogue:
"Although there are defensive positions the religious believer
could have taken against the NDT [Neo-Darwinian Theory], the
theory _does_ deny creation. The NREH [Non-Random Evolutionary
Hypothesis], on the other hand, is agnostic and poses no
contradiction to creation. The NREH, as an explanation of
evolution, is in fact derivable from Talmudic sources."
"[...] As Rabbi Luria interpreted the Midrash, there were 365
basic species [Hebrew characters deleted] of beasts created,
and the same number of birds. All the others were derived from
these. As the basic species moved into different environment
and found itself a new niche, it changes. The changes were
dictated by the conditions under which it lived, including
the food it ate. Rabbi Luria's conclusion is very much like
the NREH presented in Chapter 7." pp. 212
1) I have never seen Cairns, Hall, or anyone else advocate
a position against common descent or a Talmudic interpretation
of the number of original species.
2) I have never seen Cairns suggest that NDT denied "creation"
or even comment on the theological palatability of non-random
mutations.
Regards,
Tim Ikeda
tikeda@sprintmail.hormel.com (despam address before use)