Re: Article: How good is our genome?

From: John Edser (edser_at_tpg.com.au)
Date: 07/02/04 

Date: Fri, 2 Jul 2004 17:52:44 +0000 (UTC)

Michael Ragland wrote:

> Ekurtz
> The genome is an entity capable of looking to the future?

> Guy:
> Interestingly, the answer is yes. That is why natural selection is able
> to cause adaptive genomic evolution. The mechanisms of genetics result
> in the encoding of the past into the genome, which effectively allows it
> to predict the future. If the past, or memories thereof, was too poor at
> predicting the future, then heritable changes within populations in
> response to natural selection would not result in adaptive evolution. It
> would just amplify the noise.

> Ragland:
> I agree with you but this process of the genome being an entity capable
> of looking into the future is in some ways at least quite evolutionarily
> slow. Second, although the genome is an entity capable of looking into
> its future its not like a crystal ball to us where we can exactly
> determine its future.
> "It's uncertain whether intelligence has any long term survival value."
> Stephen Hawking

JE:-
The units of time that Darwinism can attempt to predict
within is the time required for one selectee to reproduce
a completed total of fertile offspring into one
population. This Darwinian time frame varies between
species and individuals within any species but is does
remain an objective (finite) amount of time
per Darwinian selectee (fertile form).

Please note that if anybody suggests that
"survival value" is somehow a measure of
Darwinian fitness then they do not understand
evolutionary theory. "Survival value" was derived
from Herbert Spencer's "survival of the fittest"
jingle which remains almost the only thing
non specialists remember about Darwinism.
Unfortunately it entirely misrepresents Darwinism.
Spencer was responsible for bending Darwinism
to the service of the dictatorial political right
and has the dubious honour of being the
first (of many) to distort Darwinism for
political purposes.

Regards,

John Edser
Independent Researcher

PO Box 266
Church Pt
NSW 2105
Australia

edser@tpg.com.au

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