Hi foreveryoung,
Once again you are concentrating on the slight whilst ignoring the substance. JonF makes an important point, one that you need to address.
You have claimed that new features cannot evolve. In response you have been given two excellent examples of new traits evolving; nylon-eating bacteria and the cecal valve of certain Wall Lizards. You have rejected these as not being the kind of trait you meant.
If this is your position, you need to do two things;
1) You need to explain
exactly why these traits do not count as traits. Be specific; hand-waving is not sufficient here.
2) Tell us exactly what would constitute a new trait. And I mean
exactly what. "Like a tonsil" is not up to scratch. We need an exacting operational definition of a "new trait" so that we can know whether or not we have an example to show you and whether your definition is actually in agreement with what the ToE predicts. Without this definition, we could go round in circles forever.
All you are being asked for is a reasonable definition of what you're asking to see. This is perfectly fair. Indeed, it is essential to your argument.
If you take such exception to JonF calling you clueless, then there exists an obvious solution; prove him wrong. If you are unable to prove him wrong, then perhaps it wasn't such a calumny after all. After all, it's not a question that I would expect the average non-biologist to answer. In any case, calling us all assholes and threatening to flounce out every five minutes is guaranteed not to get us anywhere.
It's your choice. You can ignore the sniping and engage in constructive debate or you can concentrate on more-heat-than-light shouting and name calling. Make your choice, but if you leave, no-one on this board is going to lose any sleep over it.
Mutate and Survive
™ Version 4.2
