[Platt] What predictions does evolution make? [Case] It predicts that if you take two randomly selected populations from the same species and isolate them from each other, when you come back in a couple of hundred thousand years you will see different distributions of traits in the two populations and that the degree of difference in the these distributions will be a function of differences in the respective environments that the populations are placed into. While this is not testable in practice it is in principle which is all that Popper for example demands.
It also suggests that if you find fossils that are similar in different parts of the world that they originated in a common location at one time. It predicts that on the basis of random rates of mutation you could sample DNA in existing populations and conclude which are closest to the original stock. It predicts that distribution of height in basketball players will increase while the height of stalks of domestic dandelions will decrease. It predicts that reducing the amount of biodiversity on the planet greatly reduces the probability of life surviving when highly dynamic quality is introduced into the environment on a global scale. And for the record I agree that evolution is primarily about chance and randomness. moq_discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
