Re: Elaine Morgan's question (was Seven)

From: Stephen E. Jones (sejones@iinet.net.au)
Date: Wed Jan 12 2000 - 08:41:04 EST

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    Reflectorites

    On Tue, 11 Jan 2000 10:54:39 -0600 (CST), Wesley R. Elsberry wrote:

    >SJ>As Elaine Morgan asks, "If we
    >>are so closely related to them-and everything we have learned
    >>since suggests that the relationship is even closer than
    >>Darwin supposed - then why are we not more like them?" (Morgan
    >>E., "The Scars of Evolution", 1990, p1)]

    [...]

    WE>Would that be the same Elaine Morgan who is an Aquatic Ape
    >Hypothesis enthusiast?

    Wesley *knows* very well that it is the same "Elaine Morgan"!

    But what exactly is Wesley's point? Is he implying that someone (even a
    fellow evolutionist) who may be wrong in one thing, must therefore be
    wrong in *all* things, and so should not be paid any attention to?

    Personally I believe that truth can be found anywhere and everywhere,
    including in evolutionists' writings.

    Those evolutionists who are prepared to risk the ostracism of their
    fellows by honestly criticising aspects of evolutionary theory (even though
    they remain evolutionists themselves), I find particularly helpful.

    After all, one does not have to accept an evolutionist's solution in order to
    accept their diagnosis of the problem.

    BTW I note that Wesley ignore's Morgan's question. If we are so closely
    related to the apes genetically, then why *are* we so different from them?

    Steve

    --------------------------------------------------------------------
    "When we consider the remote past, before the origin of the actual species
    Homo sapiens, we are faced with a fragmentary and disconnected fossil
    record. Despite the excited and optimistic claims that have been made by
    some paleontologists, no fossil hominid species can be established as our
    direct ancestor...The earliest forms that are recognized as being hominid
    are the famous fossils, associated with primitive stone tools, that were
    found by Mary and Louis Leakey in the Olduvai gorge and elsewhere in
    Africa. These fossil hominids lived more than 1.5 million years ago and had
    brains half the size of ours. They were certainly not members of our own
    species, and we have no idea whether they were even in our direct ancestral
    line or only in a parallel line of descent resembling our direct ancestor."
    (Lewontin R.C., "Human Diversity", Scientific American Library: New
    York NY, 1995, p163).
    Stephen E. Jones | sejones@iinet.net.au | http://www.iinet.net.au/~sejones
    --------------------------------------------------------------------



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