Animals with traits that are beneficial to the environment can live longer and potentially contribute more to the gene pool.
The latter is all that matters (biological fitness, or how many viable offspring are produced) in natural selection. Lifespan and any greater purpose (benefit to the environment) are not applicable.
As I see your revision it seems you are more careful in describing NS, but does your view on NS escape being a tautology?
Since contributing to the gene pool is the only definition you give, it either has no result (the author calls that a 'lame' definition, since it isolates the proces of NS so that it no longer tries to explain evolution), or the result is a difference in the gene pool (that is: a difference in the frequencies of genes) after one or several generations, and then we have a tautology again.
'Contributing to the gene pool' is a very vague phrase to use. I clarified what I meant to make the definition more specific. Under natural selection the 'purpose' (if you will) of living is to reproduce as much as you can and leave behind as many offspring as possible. Now, you can get into genetic theories and rationalize that, every offspring will have slightly different genomes due to genetic recombination and spontaneous mutations, which can have good, bad, or neutral consequences in terms of future biological fitness (the ability to produce offspring). But it seems reasonable to me that given a diverse gene pool (which is facilitated by increased biological fitness), the population as a whole would be more likely to survive some calamity or other.
I don't understand where the tautology is in that.
Natural selection
- 06/08/2011 03:51:26 PM
1400 Views
selection for suitability
- 06/08/2011 04:18:51 PM
1033 Views
Thanks for your responce
- 06/08/2011 04:41:20 PM
1166 Views
- 06/08/2011 04:41:20 PM
1166 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
1122 Views
Just a question
- 06/08/2011 07:18:09 PM
1122 Views
Yes it can
- 06/08/2011 07:41:59 PM
950 Views
But how?
- 06/08/2011 07:52:10 PM
1174 Views
Re: Just a question
- 06/08/2011 07:49:21 PM
1215 Views
I'm not sure I understand you
- 06/08/2011 08:20:44 PM
1115 Views
All tautologies are truisms, but not all truisms are tautologies.
- 06/08/2011 09:38:12 PM
1169 Views
Then it is still a tautology
- 06/08/2011 09:45:33 PM
1165 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
1222 Views
Maybe...
- 07/08/2011 01:55:54 PM
1076 Views
I'm more inclined toward his logic, but possibly toward your conclusions.
- 09/08/2011 12:45:46 AM
1159 Views
we can't really know ahead of time what makes a specific trait benefical in that environment
- 09/08/2011 06:16:02 PM
1185 Views
As I understand it
- 06/08/2011 06:04:44 PM
1023 Views
Better...
- 06/08/2011 06:36:38 PM
1019 Views
Did you perhaps mean "beneficial in the environment" rather than "beneficial to the environment"?
- 06/08/2011 06:34:44 PM
1145 Views
yes. I did not really phrase that very clearly. *NM*
- 09/08/2011 06:14:11 PM
479 Views
No biggy; from what Bram said, I underestimated how well you were understood anyway.
- 09/08/2011 06:45:16 PM
1062 Views
Hmmm... there's some truth to that
- 06/08/2011 06:36:35 PM
1115 Views
The complexity of the problem makes it all but impossible to falsify...
- 06/08/2011 08:26:06 PM
1135 Views
The questions go deeper
- 06/08/2011 08:38:31 PM
1158 Views
Re: The questions go deeper
- 06/08/2011 09:10:32 PM
1132 Views
I think I know why you don't understand my question.
- 06/08/2011 09:38:41 PM
1177 Views
How many equation's has Moraine screwed up?
*NM*
- 06/08/2011 09:45:36 PM
489 Views
*NM*
- 06/08/2011 09:45:36 PM
489 Views
100% I think Moriaine is a very beneficial trait that contributes a lot to the RAFO pool
*NM*
- 06/08/2011 09:46:54 PM
524 Views
*NM*
- 06/08/2011 09:46:54 PM
524 Views
Re: Natural selection
- 07/08/2011 03:00:30 AM
1136 Views
Thanks a lot
- 07/08/2011 01:38:39 PM
1258 Views
2 things
- 07/08/2011 04:00:35 PM
1004 Views
Re: 2 things
- 07/08/2011 04:33:00 PM
1217 Views
Re: 2 things
- 07/08/2011 05:48:26 PM
1068 Views
My best guess
- 07/08/2011 06:00:28 PM
1140 Views
Re: My best guess
- 07/08/2011 06:37:58 PM
1031 Views
Re: My best guess
- 07/08/2011 06:47:26 PM
1199 Views
