D

Enco, I can’t sign on to your read of Lamarck. I see him as a rationalist who sought to explain the natural world. Acquired characteristics passed on to offspring that are the stuff of change in that era is impressive. And while he did not know the mechanism in terms of the biology he was proposing evolution. And we are learning that the unknown…[Read more]

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:
cooperative breeding is also evolving 🙂

The Homo erectus cooperative breeding was the culmination of a long process of peeling un-weaned infants away from their mothers, that might have taken 2-4 million years.  Great ape mothers do not like to give up their babies to anyone else.  It makes sense that the first p…[Read more]

Hope you are right Reg about it being a small minority. If you are only including those who go out in kefiyeh’s and scream the slogans then i think that is true. In terms of actual views i don’t believe it to be the case. Certainly not in the USA. And from what i have read many places have greater numbers of anti-Israel/Jew like Belgium,…[Read more]

Enco, the inheritability of acquired characteristics is not wrong. It is part of the story of genetics. Mendel’s rules are part of that story also but the simplest version. Maybe there is an analogy between Newton’s understanding and Einstein’s. But the inheritability is beyond dispute. It is factual if not satisfactual to you.

It’s role in…[Read more]

Yet even if you put together all the hardcore Islamist loons and their allies on the braindead European Left, these people still amount to a small minority. How then have they become so seemingly powerful and threatening?

That is from the article I linked above. I recently drove past the US Embassy in Dublin while there was a ‘Pro-Palestine’…[Read more]

Need a good man in your corner? Better call Saul Sugarman.

Gave me a chuckle remembering how i used to toy with idea of a trip to the probate court and a hundred dollar bill to change my name to Sugarman. Such a name for a lawyer. Ya wanna fuck with Sugarman? No, ha. Better give him what he wants…

Decent article Reg.

Bout sums it up.

I read about that jet today. I thought it was a joke. I think that the Deputy Editor of Jewish News Daniel Sugarman summed it up nicely…

It’s ok, lads, I’m sure you can land a plane in a storm navigating via your much-vaunted superior moral compass.

It’s Civilisation or Barbarism….

This article struck me as funny.

Religion flies you into buildings. Jew hate won’t allow you to land.

https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/article-904570

My response disappeared. I aint doing it again. It was cute funny fresh and substantive. Upon this you can rely. Or in hell may i fry.

Enco, agency, free will and similar notions are not part of Lama. It is as i indicated inheritability of acquired characteristics. In both instances when pondering Lamarck and Darwin change or evolution is dependent on individuals.

I think you misread the giraffe example. There is no disputing that forbears of modern giraffes had shorter necks.…[Read more]

@simonpaynton – cooperative breeding is also evolving 🙂

This seems like a good site for Evolution topics.

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:
Humans are born as socially bootable apes

This level of infant care would have required a bit of social interaction, since it would have been difficult for new mothers to be the only one caring for and protecting a newborn from large predators and other dangers.

This ties in with what we already know about Homo…[Read more]

Enco,

Aint read about Gregor and his pissy peas for as long as i care to rememmber these. My impression though is of a monk who learned through observation the rules of pea reproduction and their traits. Dominant and recessive. Fixed rules. Determinism. Utilized it to produce artificial selection.

If survival of the fittest is the popular 1…[Read more]

Cheers Reg!

…and sharks have been around 50 million years longer than trees…….

The article concerning Lamarck makes sense. Darwin and Lamarck are kissing cousins. I suspect some of the most shocking adaptations are a result of the latter.

Here is one of the oldest organisms on earth that i recently ‘discovered’ and its origins and evolution would make good reading.