Quote:
Originally Posted by troutman
Neither Gould nor Dawkins doubt evolution one iota. They have different theories about the mechanisms of evolution.
There is no credible debate ABOUT evolution - there is debate WITHIN evolution, if that makes any sense. Maybe that is what you are saying.
Dawkins seems happy to accept the assumption of a gradual, steady, uniform pace of evolution, Gould has espoused the theory of "punctuated equilibrium", in which selection acts in short concentrated bursts after some catastrophic alteration to the environment, such as the impact of a meteorite, which has resulted in the wiping out of most other species, as with the dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous.
http://www.samizdata.net/blog/archives/005150.html |
It was a little more than that. They disagreed very strongly on evolution's implications for humanity.