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Natural selection Bramhodoulos Send a noteboard - 06/08/2011 03:51:26 PM
Hey folks, I have a question about natural selection: what is it?

No, this is not another evolution vs. creation post (at least, that's not my intent), nor is it me proclaiming I don't believe in NS.
In fact the type of creationism I favor makes heavy use of natural selection to account for the variety within species or groups of species.

Recently however I've been reading another book and it discussed natural selection in a philosophical way, showing that there are multiple ways to define NS and all of them were unscientific.

I found that rather strange, since obviously we can see that some individuals or some species can live on while others go extinct. Since they are not actively selected by an outside intelligence (like man or God or aliens) it would be oke to say that "nature selects".

Now I will not repeat his arguments here, for that may put you in a frame of mind about how to define NS, rahter I'd like you guys to give me your best shot of defining NS and then I'll see if his arguments are still valid when applied to your definitions :)

One more thing about what I meant with "scientific", here I mean that it is (a theory or hypothesis that is) falsifiable (Popper).
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Natural selection - 06/08/2011 03:51:26 PM 1204 Views
selection for suitability - 06/08/2011 04:18:51 PM 842 Views
Thanks for your responce - 06/08/2011 04:41:20 PM 970 Views
I can't speak for LadyLorraine and won't try, but here's how I see it: - 06/08/2011 06:49:49 PM 913 Views
Just a question - 06/08/2011 07:18:09 PM 925 Views
Yes it can - 06/08/2011 07:41:59 PM 775 Views
But how? - 06/08/2011 07:52:10 PM 989 Views
Okay, I think I see what you're saying - 08/08/2011 05:30:43 PM 788 Views
Close - 08/08/2011 05:41:46 PM 1012 Views
Re: Just a question - 06/08/2011 07:49:21 PM 1010 Views
I'm not sure I understand you - 06/08/2011 08:20:44 PM 901 Views
All tautologies are truisms, but not all truisms are tautologies. - 06/08/2011 09:38:12 PM 947 Views
Then it is still a tautology - 06/08/2011 09:45:33 PM 946 Views
You can know it's beneifical to a particular individual, but it's harder to say for populations. - 06/08/2011 10:18:16 PM 1019 Views
Maybe... - 07/08/2011 01:55:54 PM 890 Views
As I understand it - 06/08/2011 06:04:44 PM 843 Views
Better... - 06/08/2011 06:36:38 PM 844 Views
Actually - 06/08/2011 10:13:51 PM 949 Views
Re: Actually - 06/08/2011 10:37:33 PM 1088 Views
Re: Actually - 06/08/2011 11:38:52 PM 1009 Views
Oeh - 07/08/2011 01:54:19 PM 837 Views
Hmmm... there's some truth to that - 06/08/2011 06:36:35 PM 921 Views
Re: Hmmm... there's some truth to that - 06/08/2011 07:08:25 PM 922 Views
Re: Hmmm... there's some truth to that - 07/08/2011 12:46:23 AM 912 Views
The complexity of the problem makes it all but impossible to falsify... - 06/08/2011 08:26:06 PM 933 Views
The questions go deeper - 06/08/2011 08:38:31 PM 967 Views
Re: The questions go deeper - 06/08/2011 09:10:32 PM 938 Views
I think I know why you don't understand my question. - 06/08/2011 09:38:41 PM 978 Views
TalkOrigins addresses this at length. - 06/08/2011 11:14:52 PM 1004 Views
Not very much, but interesting none the less - 06/08/2011 11:38:36 PM 1004 Views
Re: Natural selection - 07/08/2011 03:00:30 AM 942 Views
Thanks a lot - 07/08/2011 01:38:39 PM 1081 Views
2 things - 07/08/2011 04:00:35 PM 825 Views
Re: 2 things - 07/08/2011 04:33:00 PM 1048 Views
Re: 2 things - 07/08/2011 05:48:26 PM 870 Views
My best guess - 07/08/2011 06:00:28 PM 922 Views
Re: My best guess - 07/08/2011 06:37:58 PM 844 Views
Re: My best guess - 07/08/2011 06:47:26 PM 1001 Views
Re: My best guess - 07/08/2011 07:02:27 PM 867 Views
Re: My best guess - 07/08/2011 09:09:57 PM 970 Views

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