propaganda

[Biology at]

Carmine Colacino wrote:
>>I agree, John was faster than me in pointing this out.
Orthogenesis does not imply any "inevitable" destination, but it only refers
to initial state's constraints.<<

I am aware that orthogenesis does not mean inevitable destination.The term just
popped up while I was writing and I sort of threw it in as another topic worth
discussing in the context of evolutionary tendencies. I should have made myself
more clear.
But since we are back to terms and definitions: I am irritated by the use of
"only" in your message. Doesn't orthogenesis literally mean 'straight
development' and doesn't a more complete definition include exactly this idea of
continuous evolution in one direction in addition to internal constraints? Am I
the victim of a serious case of propaganda?

And John Grehan wrote:
>>Sorry, I have to jump on that. Characterising orthogenesis this way is a
product of propaganda promulgated by Simpson, Mayr, Gould, and many other
supporters of Darwinain models of evolution.<<

And:
>>Whether or not everyone would agree with evidence for orthogenesis,
the charactersation presented by the darwinian theorists is incorrect.
Given Gould and Mayr's pretentions for being historians of biology, their
oversight is most interesting. Gould in particular admits to having read
"Panbiogeography"
(in which the concept of orthogenesis was discussed) so he could not even
assert that he did not know.<<


I am glad to hear that Gould read your book. I agree with you that a frequently
occurring phenomenon in evolutionary biology is this persistently sticking to
one's model or concept.
Stefan



Stefan Koenemann
Dept. of Biological Sciences
Old Dominion University
Norfolk, VA 23529-0266
USA
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