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Religion and science: respecting the differences : Comments
By Michael Zimmerman, published 31/5/2010The teachings of most mainstream religions are consistent with evolution.
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Dan typed: "That's not how Sagan saw things. Would you like to disagree with him on this point?"
Sagan saw things as Ernst Mayr did:
"It can hardly be questioned that most *visible* mutations are deleterious. On the other hand, several lines of evidence indicate that many mutations are for diverse reasons beneficial" (Animal species and Evolution 1966, page 174)
And Jim Watson:
"Rarely, however, changes (mutations) occur in genes to give rise to altered forms most *but not all* of which function less well than the wild-type alleles" (Molecular biology of the Gene 1970, page 26)
compare this with Dan's glossing over of these clear qualifications, as well as those of Sagan.
The point of is that some (regardless of how rare) variations are beneficial, most especially as conditions change.
I don't need these quotes. More than twenty years ago undergrads could opt to re-create the experiments establishing that antibiotic resistance could arise in the descendents of a single colony of bacteria, and then sequence the mutated porins and pullulanases that conferred this resistance.
It is a trivial exercise to demonstrate that *some* mutations can confer selective advantage. Dan *could* go look it up any time, but would rather pretend ignorance, to promote a stunted theology rather than choose a better one.
Rusty