Re: Most Important Unsolved Problems?
- From: "g" <gillawton@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 22 Feb 2006 12:13:50 -0500 (EST)
"Perplexed in Peoria" <jimmenegay@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:dtdno4$2bi6$1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I'll break the problems into three categories: The fact of evolution,
the cause of evolution, and pedagogy.
Regarding the fact of evolution, most of the history of recent
evolution is known, and the few remaining mysteries will rapidly
dissolve as more genomes are sequenced. Working back from the
present, I see the following problems as more difficult.
- The 'mode and tempo' of the Cambrian explosion
- The origin of the eukaryotes.
- The origin of protein synthesis
- The origin of nucleic acid replication
- The origin of life.
Regarding the causes of evolution, I see only one unsolved problem:
- Why isn't sex maladaptive for females (the infamous 'twofold cost')
Some people would add the mechanisms (and constraints) of
development to this list, but I see these as issues already
understood in outline and rapidly on their way to being
explained in detail.
Otherwise,the cause of evolution is a mostly solved
problem, but there is a lot of room for improvement in the clarity
and coverage of our mathematical models in the following areas
- Population structure and speciation.
- Higher levels of selection
- Evolution and information
- Chaos in ecological systems of interactions.
Regarding pedagogy, there are a few areas where the answers are
well known in certain circles, but the 'right thinking' has
not yet spread to all professionals, let alone the general
public.
- The idea that most of the 'work' done by NS goes toward
'maintenance of type' rather than toward 'progress'. I doubt
that this can be generally understood while the 'evolutionist'
establishment sees the battle with proponents of ID as more
important than anything else.
- The idea that most 'evolution' results from drift rather than
from NS.
My appreciation of your brain just went up another floor. Keep that up and
I'll have to start constructing new floors.
g
.
- References:
- Most Important Unsolved Problems?
- From: dougwedel
- Re: Most Important Unsolved Problems?
- From: Perplexed in Peoria
- Most Important Unsolved Problems?
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