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Lamarckist Contradiction
Rabbi Bruce Cohen (ravbar@mail.idt.net)
Tue, 19 Nov 1996 15:06:13 -0500
A point I wish to raise in regard to postings like the one I just
read. Even the most amateur of paleoarchaeologists knows that
Larmarckism (the belief that the genetic material of a species can be
altered by the external, non-radioactive, non-chemical influences of
its enviromment, such as climatic changes), is false.
So why are we getting discussion about climate changes producing
changes in the pedal architecture of primates? Are there hidden
Lamarckists among us? The fossil record does not justify at this point
the conjecture that climate change somehow yielded a biped, because
bipedalism would make for better scavengers than quardrapedal, or
semi-erect ape-like locomotion. There are no transitional forms in the
fossil record to make such conjecture justifible publicly, are there?
That was a sincere question, and please email any since REFERENCED AND
FOOTNOTED response?
Thank you. - RBC
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