Re: Don't forget about me!

From: Bert Massie (bert@massie-labs.com)
Date: Thu Apr 19 2001 - 18:46:16 EDT

  • Next message: Keith B Miller: "Major evolutionary transitions"

    Ok, the eye is frequently a topic of discussion as to how could such a complex
    thing evolve.

    But, I want to know about the proported evolution of:

            Stereoscopic vision.

    Stereovision is an incredibly complex function involving the eyes, muscles,
    control systems, and brain processing.

    Bert Massie

    RDehaan237@aol.com wrote:

    > In a message dated 4/19/01 12:00:04 AM, kbmill@ksu.edu writes:
    >
    > << But these transition are well documented in the fossil record. Documented
    > transitions include the origin of tetrapods from panderidicthyids, the
    > transition from primitive ungulates to whales, and the transition from
    > terrestrial anguimorph lizards to mosasaurs. There are quite a range and
    > diversity of environments that are neither terrestrial nor marine and it is
    > in these environments that the transitional species are quite well adapted.
    > For example, it seems quite clear now that the earliest tetrapods were not
    > terestrial and that limbs evolved for clambering in shallow water.
    >
    > Keith >>
    >
    > Thanks for the update, Keith. You speak of the "range of environments" as if
    > it were an established fact. What are they? Wetlands? What else is there?
    > I would appreciate any references you have on these points. Moreover, so
    > what? If there were in fact a range of environments, would the animal not
    > stay in the one it was best adapted to and ignore the rest? Or are you
    > suggesting that these environments appeared sequentially and that the animal
    > was forced by necessity to adapt to the current one?
    >
    > The flipper transition is only one of a whole host of others that had to be
    > coordinated to produce the whale from whatever its precursor was. You know
    > what these changes were and the magnitude of the problem of coordinating
    > them. But I don't believe you have addressed the problem. Do you really
    > believe that these coordinated changes were brought about by random mutations
    > (with respect to the future) selected by whatever environment, or genetic
    > drift, or any other undirected process?
    >
    > I have read before that you believe God is involved even in random events,
    > such as random mutations. I agree with that. But does that mean that (1)
    > God actually directs random events, i.e., chooses and brings about which ones
    > he/she wants to have effected, or (2) that God merely knows what the outcome
    > will be? If (1) then you have _directed_ evolution, and that's a far cry fro
    > m what the mainstream evolutionary biological community believes, if my
    > understanding of it is correct.
    >
    > Thanks again for your comments.
    >
    > Bob



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