Michael Nuwer wrote: > > > The problem I've always had with punctuated equilibrium as a metaphor > for social change is identifying the social entity that corresponds to > the biological specie. I can't think of any social taxonomy that makes > this biological concept useful for understanding social change.
This does not interfere with its use as a metaphor but only if one takes it not as a metaphor but as a 'literal' identification of society as an organism, which would indeed be absurd. Actually an old cliche gets at the same thing, whether in a social, a geological, an astronomical or a biological context: the straw that broke the camel's back. :-) Carrol
