[jlogajan]

That's not what the lady said. She said that after the ice age and before the impact, there were really simple things like algae and bacteria and stuff, and no evidence of diversification

There was no selection pressure favoring the new mutants. They were born and died out, ending their genetic influence, or limited to very small populations who didn't happen to leave a fossil record.

When conditions change, those few mutants who earlier may have had relatively expensive requirements compared to their simpler cousins, suddenly had a survival or re-population advantage.

I think you'll find that most higher complexity organism have initially higher "expenses" and therefore have a hard time getting a toe hold in a well settled niche. But when something comes along and upsets the apple cart, those few who've managed to pay that initial expense can now exploit that capital.

Complexity of organization requires an initial investment. Simpler organism can get into production quicker, and so tend to win the early races. But they are often less robust in the face of changing conditions. The more complex creature was paying for some unused abilities, and suddenly that is the difference between life and death -- or at least speed to repopulate.

[f.Christian]

To: f.Christian

fC ...

science (( no change )) vs the study of science (( change )) !

dh ...

That's a silly quibble. The universe does whatever it damn well pleases, and hasn't the slightest demonstrated notion of what a law is to constrain it. Insofar as what is demonstrable, natural laws are human inventions to help us think more effectively about nature. The claim that they are objectively existing things in and of themselves, is unproven and probably unprovable--as is likewise the claim that there is such a thing as "science" which exists independently of "the study of science".


1,398 posted on 05/14/2003 10:36 PM PDT by donh (u)

fC ...

reminds me of the oj juror lady ... "design (( dna )) --- what design (( dna ))" -- ? ? ? ?

[Mike Darancette]

Well said. Think of it as Mother Nature kicking over the poker table and shooting out the lights.

[f.Christian]

retro spin ...

Liberalism is unrestrained (( evolution )) ideology (( manmade reason -- feelings )) ...

neo democrats ---fascists !

Motivation ...

these gods (( experts )) are UN - questionable -- UN accountable to nothing (( changes // whims )) -- no other (( atheists )) !

Make it up to suit their needs -- desires !