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Author Topic:   Elitism and Nazism
Wounded King
Member
Posts: 4149
From: Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
Joined: 04-09-2003


Message 108 of 125 (56047)
09-17-2003 12:28 PM
Reply to: Message 106 by Syamsu
09-17-2003 12:20 PM


I'd be very surprised. the only, arguably, mainstream evolutionist you have presented as agreeing with you is SJ Gould. I would be interested if you could find many of his essays which agree with your viewpoint.
No one is arguing that selective pressures do not act on individual members of a population, the point is that informative data about the process of Natural Selection and evolution within that population cannot be gained by looking at one individual alone. The data are only informative when you look at the population as a whole, which is where the comparison comes in.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 106 by Syamsu, posted 09-17-2003 12:20 PM Syamsu has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 115 by Syamsu, posted 09-18-2003 12:05 AM Wounded King has replied

  
MrHambre
Member (Idle past 1421 days)
Posts: 1495
From: Framingham, MA, USA
Joined: 06-23-2003


Message 109 of 125 (56048)
09-17-2003 12:39 PM
Reply to: Message 106 by Syamsu
09-17-2003 12:20 PM


quote:
So as before, similar arguments as I make have been made by mainstream evolutionists. I wouldn't be surprised if there was an essay that said the same thing as I do about selection having to be defined on an individual basis in stead of a comparitive basis, since several evolutionists on this forum have said to me that fundamentally selection should in fact be understood on an individual basis.
Any definition of natural selection that doesn't include variation is meaningless. Many organisms, you'll find, do not reproduce without others of their species, and so the ability you claim to discern anything about the individual organism outside of the context of a population is nonexistent. Populations are composed of variants statistically distributed around a mean, so the notion of a single organism standing for anything except convenient scientific shorthand is impossible to support.
------------------
I would not let the chickens cross the antidote road because I was already hospitlized for trying to say this!-Brad McFall

This message is a reply to:
 Message 106 by Syamsu, posted 09-17-2003 12:20 PM Syamsu has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 110 by Syamsu, posted 09-17-2003 2:49 PM MrHambre has replied

  
Syamsu 
Suspended Member (Idle past 5618 days)
Posts: 1914
From: amsterdam
Joined: 05-19-2002


Message 110 of 125 (56062)
09-17-2003 2:49 PM
Reply to: Message 109 by MrHambre
09-17-2003 12:39 PM


I think I can say that a white moth fits a white tree for reproduction, without comparing to variants. I don't think I need the comparison.
You would say that the haemoglobine molecule is around an average mean in the population? I don't think you quite understand that differences in genes are discrete and not generic. The generic differences seem to be a phenotypical function of controlling genes.
regards,
Mohammad Nor Syamsu

This message is a reply to:
 Message 109 by MrHambre, posted 09-17-2003 12:39 PM MrHambre has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 111 by MrHambre, posted 09-17-2003 2:59 PM Syamsu has replied
 Message 119 by Wounded King, posted 09-18-2003 5:13 AM Syamsu has not replied

  
MrHambre
Member (Idle past 1421 days)
Posts: 1495
From: Framingham, MA, USA
Joined: 06-23-2003


Message 111 of 125 (56065)
09-17-2003 2:59 PM
Reply to: Message 110 by Syamsu
09-17-2003 2:49 PM


quote:
I think I can say that a white moth fits a white tree for reproduction, without comparing to variants. I don't think I need the comparison.
Oh, but you do need the comparison. Testing the effects of natural selection would require you to count the moths in a population at various times and know what percentage were white, what percentage black, and so on. The changes in these percentages would determine the outcome of your selection analysis. You probably don't care if they are the same moths at each census, just whether moths sharing certain characteristics seem to be better-represented numerically in subsequent populations.
------------------
I would not let the chickens cross the antidote road because I was already hospitlized for trying to say this!-Brad McFall

This message is a reply to:
 Message 110 by Syamsu, posted 09-17-2003 2:49 PM Syamsu has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 112 by zephyr, posted 09-17-2003 3:43 PM MrHambre has not replied
 Message 113 by Syamsu, posted 09-17-2003 11:35 PM MrHambre has replied

  
zephyr
Member (Idle past 4578 days)
Posts: 821
From: FOB Taji, Iraq
Joined: 04-22-2003


Message 112 of 125 (56071)
09-17-2003 3:43 PM
Reply to: Message 111 by MrHambre
09-17-2003 2:59 PM


quote:
Oh, but you do need the comparison. Testing the effects of natural selection would require you to count the moths in a population at various times and know what percentage were white, what percentage black, and so on. The changes in these percentages would determine the outcome of your selection analysis. You probably don't care if they are the same moths at each census, just whether moths sharing certain characteristics seem to be better-represented numerically in subsequent populations.
How many times has Syamsu been bashed over the head with the fact of competition among varying organisms?
He doesn't get it. He ignores it whenever anyone points out that there are limited resources in any ecosystem, predators that will eat the slowest and most obvious prey, and myriad other factors that produce the "differential" success of variants. I can't explain his insistence on removing this vital aspect of fitness, but it's a fact, and nothing seems to change it.

This message is a reply to:
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Syamsu 
Suspended Member (Idle past 5618 days)
Posts: 1914
From: amsterdam
Joined: 05-19-2002


Message 113 of 125 (56188)
09-17-2003 11:35 PM
Reply to: Message 111 by MrHambre
09-17-2003 2:59 PM


Again, I think I can determine if or not the white wingcolor of the white moth contributes to reproduction of said moth by observing it, without comparing with other moths. That is the meaningful information.
Gee Zephyr do you really think I hadn't thought about competition? Have you ever thought about the absence of competition between variants? That variants by their difference are more likely to use different sort of resources then samestructured organism, and therefore compete less. Such as nylon eating bacteria and their ancestors.
1. You can't tell me what the differential reproductive success of nylon / non nylon eating bacteria is.
2. If you could tell me then that number would have no scientific meaning. It is 1:10 so what, it's 10:100000 so what, no meaning there
3. You would seem to ignore the simple observation that eating nylon contributes to reproduction. Again, the comparison has no fundamental scientific value.
regards,
Mohammad Nor Syamsu

This message is a reply to:
 Message 111 by MrHambre, posted 09-17-2003 2:59 PM MrHambre has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 116 by MrHambre, posted 09-18-2003 2:16 AM Syamsu has replied

  
Syamsu 
Suspended Member (Idle past 5618 days)
Posts: 1914
From: amsterdam
Joined: 05-19-2002


Message 114 of 125 (56190)
09-17-2003 11:47 PM
Reply to: Message 107 by Percy
09-17-2003 12:22 PM


I don't think that is true, I think most people understand by now. I think you are the only one who still doesn't understand. The comparison leads to the judgemental words, and in turn the judgemental words are conducive to social darwinism.
I don't have to convince anyone here that the usage of words such as goodness, or selfish in a science theory are inherently questionable by the ideal of of neutrality in science. Everyone here shares this standard already.
regards,
Mohammad Nor Syamsu

This message is a reply to:
 Message 107 by Percy, posted 09-17-2003 12:22 PM Percy has replied

Replies to this message:
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 Message 125 by Percy, posted 09-18-2003 12:57 PM Syamsu has not replied

  
Syamsu 
Suspended Member (Idle past 5618 days)
Posts: 1914
From: amsterdam
Joined: 05-19-2002


Message 115 of 125 (56192)
09-18-2003 12:05 AM
Reply to: Message 108 by Wounded King
09-17-2003 12:28 PM


Actually people are arguing that Natural Selection doesn't act on an individual, but only acts comparitively. If they weren't arguing that, then the question how Natural Selection should be defined would soon be settled by the rules in organizing knowledge in favour of the non-comparitive approach.
Gould doesn't agree with my viewpoint. Like I said, he still supports the comparitive approach eventhough he notes the peculiarity of it.
regards,
Mohammad Nor Syamsu

This message is a reply to:
 Message 108 by Wounded King, posted 09-17-2003 12:28 PM Wounded King has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 120 by Wounded King, posted 09-18-2003 5:24 AM Syamsu has not replied

  
MrHambre
Member (Idle past 1421 days)
Posts: 1495
From: Framingham, MA, USA
Joined: 06-23-2003


Message 116 of 125 (56205)
09-18-2003 2:16 AM
Reply to: Message 113 by Syamsu
09-17-2003 11:35 PM


quote:
I think I can determine if or not the white wingcolor of the white moth contributes to reproduction of said moth by observing it, without comparing with other moths. That is the meaningful information.
I'm sure you think you can determine that, and you think wrong. You can only determine if the color of the moth contributed to its reproductive success if you have studied a population in which some variants did not share the trait. By observing one organism, you can draw no conclusions about natural selection. That is not meaningful information of any kind.
------------------
I would not let the chickens cross the antidote road because I was already hospitlized for trying to say this!-Brad McFall

This message is a reply to:
 Message 113 by Syamsu, posted 09-17-2003 11:35 PM Syamsu has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 117 by Syamsu, posted 09-18-2003 3:30 AM MrHambre has replied

  
Syamsu 
Suspended Member (Idle past 5618 days)
Posts: 1914
From: amsterdam
Joined: 05-19-2002


Message 117 of 125 (56209)
09-18-2003 3:30 AM
Reply to: Message 116 by MrHambre
09-18-2003 2:16 AM


Creationist Paley in his main work referenced another creationist who noted that each and every attribute of an organism contributes either to survival, or to reproduction in some way, without referring to Natural Selection at all. I have no clue what you're talking about saying it is impossible...
regards,
Mohammad Nor Syamsu

This message is a reply to:
 Message 116 by MrHambre, posted 09-18-2003 2:16 AM MrHambre has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 121 by MrHambre, posted 09-18-2003 7:22 AM Syamsu has replied
 Message 122 by Wounded King, posted 09-18-2003 7:53 AM Syamsu has not replied

  
Mammuthus
Member (Idle past 6503 days)
Posts: 3085
From: Munich, Germany
Joined: 08-09-2002


Message 118 of 125 (56213)
09-18-2003 3:54 AM
Reply to: Message 114 by Syamsu
09-17-2003 11:47 PM


Do "confidence intervals" make you feel insecure? Does the "standard deviation" make you want to have inappropriate contact with your neighbors sheep? Does calculation of the "mean" make you aggressive and surly? Does a "lek" make you want to join the Polish solidaritiy movement (though you would be a bit late).

This message is a reply to:
 Message 114 by Syamsu, posted 09-17-2003 11:47 PM Syamsu has not replied

  
Wounded King
Member
Posts: 4149
From: Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
Joined: 04-09-2003


Message 119 of 125 (56221)
09-18-2003 5:13 AM
Reply to: Message 110 by Syamsu
09-17-2003 2:49 PM


I think it is perfectly correct to say that the structure of the haemoglobin molecule in the population varies, although it is a discontinuous rather than a continuous variation. As it is discontinuous ther is no average mean but there is an average mode and there might be a median, I'm not quite sure offhand how many isoforms of haemoglobin there are, but I know that it is more than one and therefore shows variation.
You admit that genetic difference exist, in what way are these differences not variation?

This message is a reply to:
 Message 110 by Syamsu, posted 09-17-2003 2:49 PM Syamsu has not replied

  
Wounded King
Member
Posts: 4149
From: Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
Joined: 04-09-2003


Message 120 of 125 (56222)
09-18-2003 5:24 AM
Reply to: Message 115 by Syamsu
09-18-2003 12:05 AM


So in fact you show no mainstream evolutionist who agrees with you. The actual selective pressures act on both the individual and the population but looking at the individual will not show you any trend. I personally don't care if you want to say that Natural selection, as in the force of a particular selective pressure, acts on the individual, but doing so gives you absolutely no explanatory ability, all you can say is that one specific creature died due to one specific selective pressure, this will not allow you to determine anything about the dynamics or genetics of the population as a whole. The only way to look at them as a whole is to study either the whole of, or a large sample of, the population it is this broad focus which brings the comparison in, in the same way that looking at a large sample of stars shows comparative differences in a variety of factors.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 115 by Syamsu, posted 09-18-2003 12:05 AM Syamsu has not replied

  
MrHambre
Member (Idle past 1421 days)
Posts: 1495
From: Framingham, MA, USA
Joined: 06-23-2003


Message 121 of 125 (56230)
09-18-2003 7:22 AM
Reply to: Message 117 by Syamsu
09-18-2003 3:30 AM


Now There's a Surprise
quote:
Creationist Paley in his main work referenced another creationist
I certainly would have no reason to question the soundness of this citation...
quote:
who noted that each and every attribute of an organism contributes either to survival, or to reproduction in some way, without referring to Natural Selection at all.
Like we've said before, the attributes that contribute to the survival of the organisms which possess them in a population can only be determined after analyzing the entire population at different times for the observed effects of the process of Natural Selection.
quote:
I have no clue what you're talking about saying it is impossible...
You've already long since convinced me of this, Sy.
------------------
I would not let the chickens cross the antidote road because I was already hospitlized for trying to say this!-Brad McFall

This message is a reply to:
 Message 117 by Syamsu, posted 09-18-2003 3:30 AM Syamsu has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 123 by Syamsu, posted 09-18-2003 9:43 AM MrHambre has not replied

  
Wounded King
Member
Posts: 4149
From: Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
Joined: 04-09-2003


Message 122 of 125 (56232)
09-18-2003 7:53 AM
Reply to: Message 117 by Syamsu
09-18-2003 3:30 AM


The blind eyes of a cave fish contribute 'either to survival, or to reproduction' in what way exactly?

This message is a reply to:
 Message 117 by Syamsu, posted 09-18-2003 3:30 AM Syamsu has not replied

  
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