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Oeh Bramhodoulos Send a noteboard - 07/08/2011 01:54:19 PM
Well, as you can see I'm trying to keep up with several people at the same time and hopefully I'm not confusing your arguments with them and thereby answering questions you didn't ask.

But your example of C. difficile is interesting, for I think it actually proves my point.
You claim that they have objectively "low biological fitness" because they have a very low poplulation, especially compared to other bacteria.

This does not actually have anything to do with the gene pool, unless you would say that all species of bacteria share the same gene pool (and besides, bacteria have a different type of gene pool anyway, since they don't sexually reproduce).
None the less, your clasification of "having low biological fitness" is principally based on their low frequency, not based upon their internal genetical code, or their strong phenotype in and of itself, but only on their frequency.

Next you say that when anti-biotics are applied they are the only ones (or one of the very few) who can survive and therefor increase their numbers.
And once antibiotics are stopped things go back to normal.
You conclude: "That is an example of natural selection. It does not necessarily select for any particular characteristic."

Great, but that's my point!
My problem is not with the notion that nature selects, or that the survivers contribute more to the gene pool or anything, but my question is that if NS does not select for "any particular characteristic", how can that knowledge help us understand NS?

Now you can come with a specific example where NS does select for trait X, but the problem is that NS as a whole cannot be "tested". It can be (and if you ask me: must be) assumed, but I can't think of a non-tautologous formulation of NS that is explanatory.
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Natural selection - 06/08/2011 03:51:26 PM 1267 Views
selection for suitability - 06/08/2011 04:18:51 PM 914 Views
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Close - 08/08/2011 05:41:46 PM 1086 Views
Re: Just a question - 06/08/2011 07:49:21 PM 1077 Views
I'm not sure I understand you - 06/08/2011 08:20:44 PM 982 Views
All tautologies are truisms, but not all truisms are tautologies. - 06/08/2011 09:38:12 PM 1011 Views
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Maybe... - 07/08/2011 01:55:54 PM 965 Views
As I understand it - 06/08/2011 06:04:44 PM 916 Views
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Oeh - 07/08/2011 01:54:19 PM 908 Views
Hmmm... there's some truth to that - 06/08/2011 06:36:35 PM 1010 Views
Re: Hmmm... there's some truth to that - 06/08/2011 07:08:25 PM 995 Views
Re: Hmmm... there's some truth to that - 07/08/2011 12:46:23 AM 982 Views
The complexity of the problem makes it all but impossible to falsify... - 06/08/2011 08:26:06 PM 1005 Views
The questions go deeper - 06/08/2011 08:38:31 PM 1038 Views
Re: The questions go deeper - 06/08/2011 09:10:32 PM 1008 Views
I think I know why you don't understand my question. - 06/08/2011 09:38:41 PM 1047 Views
TalkOrigins addresses this at length. - 06/08/2011 11:14:52 PM 1072 Views
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Re: Natural selection - 07/08/2011 03:00:30 AM 1010 Views
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