[Taxacom] An improved definition of cladogenesis

[Curtis Clark]

On 3/14/2010 9:01 AM, Richard Zander wrote:
> This is where I find discussions of species concepts putting the cart
> before the horse. Those who inflict species concepts on nature do more
> than just predict, they influence the stuff of reality, largely as
> communicated with names.

One of my most clarifying experiences was a discussion with a computer 
science colleague: He asked if I had any advice for writing end-user 
documentation for a specific project. I said, "Give plenty of examples."

He explained that he didn't believe in examples. His views had been 
shaped by a math professor, who pointed out that, if you know the first 
principles, you can generate as many examples as you want, and if you 
don't, no arbitrary number of examples will help you toward that 
understanding.

I realized then that biology is the inverse of mathematics: biology is 
the sum total of all examples, and the theoretical underpinnings 
necessary to make consistent sense of them. Without theory, biology is 
still discoverable, but without example, it's just a sloppy and 
unproductive kind of math.

-- 
Curtis Clark                  http://www.csupomona.edu/~jcclark/
Director, I&IT Web Development                   +1 909 979 6371
University Web Coordinator, Cal Poly Pomona