We have weekly discussion groups and this weeks assignment is to describe speciation to a non-scientist. Well.. this is a response post..


"If you think about it natural selection also happens with humans. Many, but not all, children learn from their parents. For example, I would have no idea how to cook if it wasn't for my mom showing me how. I learned the cooking trait from my mom and if I didn't I think I'd starve because I wouldn't know how to make anything "


Another response post stated that polar bears are vegetarians.


I am sure I will have more.

 

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Taking a science course for non science majors is usually pretty funny.

 

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Loth and I are sitting here dying.


He also foretold that you would enjoy this post.

 

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wait, what are you writing about

 

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She posted hers in the OP, keep up.

 

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I just...really? Really?

 

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oh, i see what they are saying. the creation of new species, or speciation, is really just an arbitrary line we draw between one species and another. one need only consider the range of symbioses to understand that the line between species is blurry. it's accepted that your mitochondria, and a plant's chloroplast, come from ancient symbioses between what are now eukaryotes and prokaryotes that have exchanged so much genetic material that it's hard to call them separate any longer.

natural selection isn't caring where the function is coming from, it's acting on the whole individual. in the case of humans, it's the behavior in the individual that matters. so when we think of natural selection acting on humans, taking the perspective of the behavior and then working our way to natural selection and evolution is a useful way about thinking about the differences between 'species'.

cooking is just an example of how humans as a species are very good at learning. it shouldn't be too hard to convince you that being able to learn a lot is a useful trait. not only can you pass your genes on, you can pass knowledge on. if my kid couldn't learn something like cooking i would probably abort. the kid would never get laid and pass my genes on. i would definitely invest my parental time into a quicker learner to increase the proportion of my genes in the gene pool. oh dear i accidentally wandered into sexual selection.

Yeah, that was our reaction, too.

 

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Can you explain it to me in a way that involves God as much as possible?

 

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It's not that bad if you think of it on a population scale. Learned group behaviors can contribute to the fitness of that group compared to adjacent groups in a similar habitat if they are competing on a group level.

Granted the person would not starve without being taught to cook, and generally you consider selection on an individual fitness level related to heritable traits when discussing speciation, but I can kind of see their thought process.

 

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