Learning Evolution

@basilfawlty89
Thank you. Very good. What do you mean by adaptation? To adapt requires a conscious effort.

In biology adaptation is a change or the process of change by which an organism or species becomes better suited to its environment. "living in groups is an adaptation that increases the efficiency of hunting" (Oxford) So, evolution is change on a conscious level? Not a random event over time? A conscious effort over time? How is that?


Quote below is from: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/01/5/l_015_02.html#:~:text=The%20dog%2C%20Canis%20familiaris%2C%20is,Darwin%20was%20wrong%20about%20dogs.


So, dogs evolved from the gray wolf. The evolution caused them to behave differently and to have smaller forms with shorter muzzles and smaller teeth. Is a Poodle a product of the evolution of itself from a dog with a different form and behavior? A Great Dane, for example?

@AkioTsukino


What makes you say that?
I know you accept that organisms change in response to environmental conditions. Are you under the impression that they do so by conscious effort?

@AkioTsukino

Not true.
A characteristic can serve a different function. Like wing feathers. They were used to protect nest eggs, but flight was an unexpected bonus.

@Pikachu @DocSavage I was merely pointing out the difference between the biological and the non-biological uses of the term adaptation.

@AkioTsukino

Ok, good to make sure we're all using the same definitions. Obviously biological adaptation does not require a conscious effort.

@AkioTsukino
Dogs are wolves

@AkioTsukino Adaptation is merely one possible step in the evolutionary process.

An adaptation needs to be heritable over a very long time, and needs to increase the reproductive fitness of the wider population.

It is phenotypic rather than genetic.

@AkioTsukino You seem unaware of why the Theory is called the Theory of Evolution by Natural selection.

Evolution is a process (and I have told you what that process involves).

Natural Selection is the mechanism that drives the process of Evolution.

Natural Selection is sex and death in a constantly changing environment

@newjaninev2
And wolves are dogs?

@AkioTsukino They’re the same thing... Canis lupus

Humans have used selective breeding to produce a wide range of different, but inherently superficial, forms.

That range of forms is loosely referred to as [i]Canis lupus familiaris[/I]

We say wolf, and we say dog, but the genes say [i]Canis lupus[/I]

Your chihuahua is a wolf.

Put your chihuahua to the test, and you will see Nature red of tooth and claw so quickly that your eyes will water.

@newjaninev2
You could expand that by saying I always have a problem with what things are called. Or at least typically justifiable suspicion, so that will be a part of my learning.


Okay.


Well, see, there could be a problem. So, let's define, shall we? Where is the random selection in nature? Selection isn't selection at all in any common application I can see. It's more like natural turn of events. Or, nature for short. It's just natural. So my question becomes what is mechanism?

Mechanism: a natural or established process by which something takes place or is brought about.

So natural selection is natural nature by nature. It's just nature. Correct? I realize everything has to be called something but why not call natural selection nature. Get rid of the middleman. The terms selection and evolution are unnecessary. Feel free to correct me.


Again. Sex and death are nature. Changing environment is nature.

@AkioTsukino

There is no random selection in nature. This is a fundamental misunderstanding of how evolutionary selection works, though it is sadly a very common one.
I will leave most of this response to @newjaninev2 but allow me to clarify the concept for you.

Consider the roll of the dice:

The 6 that turns up is random, as are all the other numbers.
But you're not just rolling and rolling...you're keeping the sixes and rolling again until you get more sixes.
The important part to remember is that evolution is keeping all the 6s while the rest get left behind.
The rolls (mutations) are random (kind of) but the selection process is anything but.

If your desire to educate yourself about evolution is earnest, this is one of THE MOST important concepts you must understand.
Do you understand it?