tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13305228.post2042767295584441112..comments2023-11-02T11:32:38.324+00:00Comments on The Joy of Curmudgeonry: RacesDeogolwulfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02197539477668018797noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13305228.post-61256703680680003562009-06-04T21:40:45.668+01:002009-06-04T21:40:45.668+01:00"Indeed, not even biological species meet you..."Indeed, not even biological species meet your definition of "discrete biological groups". Wolves, coyotes and dogs are all considered different species and yet they may interbreed to produce fertile offspring."<br /><br />Species are fluid even in a strict taxonomical sense. The above three are were once conferred special status (by most), but are now (by most) considered subspecies (or races) of C. lupus, along with Dingos.Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06973246177321950299noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13305228.post-30884895527926160262009-06-04T13:32:10.295+01:002009-06-04T13:32:10.295+01:00mental-background music
Or metal-background music...mental-background music<br /><br />Or metal-background music?James Highamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14525082702330365464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13305228.post-64393300877737202442009-06-03T04:12:53.818+01:002009-06-03T04:12:53.818+01:00Dandy, I was struck by that gull example myself, a...Dandy, I was struck by that gull example myself, and even scribbled a little <a href="http://malcolmpollack.com/2006/10/22/circle-of-life/" rel="nofollow">musing of my own</a> on the topic a few years ago, if I may...Malcolm Pollackhttp://malcolmpollack.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13305228.post-48793002395750604272009-05-30T17:38:07.362+01:002009-05-30T17:38:07.362+01:00Henry Adams was personal secretary to his father, ...Henry Adams was personal secretary to his father, Charles Adams, ambassador to the United Kingdom during the Civil War. <br />One day Darwin walked into Henry's office to seek ways in promoting his ideas in America. Henry was very pleased to oblige. <br />From The Education of Henry Adams (with liberties)--<br /><br />"Henry Adams was a Darwinist because it was easier than not, for his ignorance exceeded belief, and one must know something in order to contradict something. The idea was only too secuctive in its perfection; it had the charm of art. Steady, uniform, unbroken evolution from lower to higher seemed easy. <br />Ponder over it as he might, Adams could see nothing in the theory of Sir Charles but pure inference. Sir Charles labored only to heap up the evidences of evolution, to cumulate them till the mass became irresistible. With that purpose, Adams gladly studied and tried to help Sir Charles, but behind the lesson of the day, he could prove only Evolution that did not evolve; Uniformity that was not uniform; and Selection that did not select. Darwimism was a form of religious hope, a promise of ultimate perfection. Adams wished no better, he warmly sypathaxed with the object; but when he came to ask himself what he truly thought, he felt that he had no Faith; that whenever the next new hobby should be brought out, he would surely drop of the Darwinism like a monkey off the perch.xlbrlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01931950075332608449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13305228.post-78878454543650625592009-05-30T15:07:09.833+01:002009-05-30T15:07:09.833+01:00The species problem is even worse in the case of e...The species problem is even worse in the case of extinct organisms. I have fondish memories of grappling with <I>Homo habilis</I> and <I>H. rudolfensis</I> as an undergraduate.Deogolwulfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02197539477668018797noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13305228.post-89014204210582605172009-05-29T17:29:36.888+01:002009-05-29T17:29:36.888+01:00Indeed, not even biological species meet your defi...Indeed, not even biological species meet your definition of "discrete biological groups". Wolves, coyotes and dogs are all considered different species and yet they may interbreed to produce fertile offspring.<br /><br />There is a particularly good example of the fluidity of species in Dennett's book <I>Darwin's Dangerous Idea</I>:<br /><br />As we look at the herring gull, moving westwards from Great Britain to North America, we see gulls that are recognizably herring gulls, although they are a little different from the British form. We can follow them, as their appearance gradually changes, as far as Siberia. At about this point in the continuum, the gull looks more like the form that in Great Britain is called the lesser black-backed gull. From Siberia, across Russia, to northern Europe, the gull gradually changes to look more and more like the British lesser black-backed gull. Finally, in Europe, the ring is complete; the two geographically extreme forms meet, to form two perfectly good species: the herring and lesser black-backed gull can be both distinguished by their appearance and do not naturally interbreed.The Dandy Highwaymanhttp://cealdecote.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13305228.post-28192325617685974442009-05-29T16:59:58.589+01:002009-05-29T16:59:58.589+01:00"to insinuate that there is no biological reality ..."to insinuate that there is no biological reality to races as intra-specific subgroups, the denial of which is a curious and recent phenomenon": that's denial in words, of course. I don't suppose that anyone denies it in their actions.deariemenoreply@blogger.com