Philip Goetz wrote:
...
The "disagreement" here is a side-effect of postmodern thought.
Matt is using "evolution" as the opposite of "devolution", whereas
Eric seems to be using it as meaning "change, of any kind, via natural
selection".
We have difficulty because people with political agendas - notably
Stephen J. Gould - have brainwashed us into believing that we must
never speak of evolution being "forward" or "backward", and that
change in any direction is equally valuable. With such a viewpoint,
though, it is impossible to express concern about the rising incidence
of allergies, genetic diseases, etc.
...
To speak of evolution as being "forward" or "backward" is to impose upon
it our own preconceptions of the direction in which it *should* be
changing. This seems...misguided.
To claim that because all changes in the gene pool are evolution, that
therefore they are all equally valuable is to conflate two (orthogonal?)
assertions. Value is inherently subjective to the entity doing the
evaluation. Evolution, interpreted as statistical changes in the gene
pool, in inherently objective (though, of course, measurements of it may
well be biased).
Stephen J. Gould may well have been more of a populizer than a research
scientist, but I feel that your criticisms of his presentations are
unwarranted and made either in ignorance or malice. This is not a
strong belief, and were evidence presented I would be willing to change
it, but I've seen such assertions made before with equal lack of
evidential backing, and find them distasteful.
That Stephen J. Gould had some theories of how evolution works that are
not universally accepted by those skilled in the field does not warrant
your comments. Many who are skilled in the field find them either
intriguing or reasonable. Some find them the only reasonable proposal.
I can't speak for "most", as I am not a professional evolutionary
biologist, and don't know that many folk who are, but it would not
surprise me to find that most evolutionary biologists found his
arguments reasonable and unexceptional, if not convincing.
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