Re: evolution everywhere?
Len Piotrowski (lpiotrow@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu)
Wed, 11 Sep 1996 18:41:45 GMT
In article <32363C28.74CC@megafauna.com> Stephen Barnard <steve@megafauna.com> writes:
>[snip]
>Shannon Adams wrote:
>>
>> Again, this could be incredibly naive, but where does the choice/reaction of
>> the individual (not the individual as a representation of a group pattern)
>> fit into evolution (especially social evolution)? I thought that in
>> evolution we were all being molded, for lack of a better word, into a being
>> that is most fit to exist in whatever environment we exist? Is that wrong?
>>
>Yes, that's wrong. That's the straw-man Panglossian point of view.
>Optimality is not the point. The point is differential reproduction.
The point of contention was the functionalist/adaptationist method of
explaining "traits." The point of this thread has to do with the incessant
drumbeat of that message despite any supporting evidence for it's application
to meaningful human behavior.
Cheers,
--Lenny__
"If you can't remember what mnemonic means, you've got a problem."
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