tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7225373.post249909916093555530..comments2024-02-29T03:34:23.190-05:00Comments on Who Were the Sea Peoples?: Every Creature Is Equally Highly Evolvedgcallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10065877215969589482noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7225373.post-81678712765512823722012-06-29T15:39:00.283-04:002012-06-29T15:39:00.283-04:00I suspect one species could be considered to be mo...I suspect one species could be considered to be more robust than another. Better adaptability to extreme environments, able to exist on a wider range of foods, etc...<br />Rapid genetic change would be a negative on the individual level- illness and death are more likely than that extremely rare new change that allows a person to flourish and have many children.Augusthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08758314961163692341noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7225373.post-18164984862488865902012-06-27T15:18:19.073-04:002012-06-27T15:18:19.073-04:00I don't think that changes things, though, Aug...I don't think that changes things, though, August. I think most biologists will say "All organisms today are evolved enough to be living today. And that's that."<br /><br />More rapid genetic change != more evolved.gcallahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10065877215969589482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7225373.post-85947497067080342972012-06-27T10:25:50.171-04:002012-06-27T10:25:50.171-04:00There isn't an equality of evolution based on ...There isn't an equality of evolution based on time. Because of horizontal gene transfer some species (and some sub-groups in certain localities) can evolve at radically different rates. <br />Not that I like the term 'highly evolved ape' much either, but the answer to whether the statement is true or not is more complicated than time.Augusthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08758314961163692341noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7225373.post-82875670801297866852012-06-27T08:02:48.774-04:002012-06-27T08:02:48.774-04:00As for the "privileged" thing that Dawki...As for the "privileged" thing that Dawkins brings up... I don't know if that follows (certainly he doesn't make a case for why that follows) and I don't know if its <i>just</i> vanity. There are a lot of objective measures on which you could claim that humans are pretty special. But I definitely agree that all of our contemporaries also "highly evolved". You can't survive and compete without being highly evolved.Danielhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17192667997950934790noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7225373.post-42586019789640499022012-06-27T08:00:26.990-04:002012-06-27T08:00:26.990-04:00Right, but the degree of civilization we have reac...Right, but the degree of civilization we have reached today is because we <i>are</i> highly evolved over those 4 billion years. We stand on the shoulders of our ancestors.<br /><br />Other animals are just as evolved in that sense (they too stand on the shoulders of their ancestors) - of course they don't have all the cool abilities that we do.Danielhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17192667997950934790noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7225373.post-6786710018071617412012-06-27T00:12:41.715-04:002012-06-27T00:12:41.715-04:00This is one of the central theses of Stephen Jay G...This is one of the central theses of Stephen Jay Gould's Full House.Ryanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18341935691462262579noreply@blogger.com