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[Phys-l] speciation



On 12/22/2010 06:36 AM, Robert Cohen wrote:
It seems to me that stating either "evolution is a fact" (BW) OR
"evolution is not a fact" (WR) is to be avoided because the word
"evolution", without qualifiers, is too ambiguous.

I don't see it as particularly ambiguous.

Perhaps what Bill wanted to write was that, while we may debate the
proper wording, scientists should be clear that "evolution on a small
scale" is a fact but "global evolution of species over the history of
the Earth" is not. Is there consensus on that?

Au contraire, the consensus is that you can't have one
without the other.

Speciation is an observed fact.

This is so obvious that I can't believe we are even having
this discussion. The people who deny (or even question)
evolutionary speciation are the modern-day equivalent of
the people who in the years after 1610 denied the existence
of moons around Jupiter. The DNA evidence for speciation
is just as overwhelming as the telescopic evidence for moons.

Also, can we agree that the theory of biological evolution (which
consists of natural selection as well as other processes) is, as
scientific theories go, a very strong theory for explaining the "global"
diversity of species?

The word "theory" is the only ambiguous word here. It has
been used in two distinct ways for thousands of years.
*) Sometimes a "theory" is what we can call a /hypotheory/,
which is no more than a hypothesis, or even a conjecture
or speculation.
*) Sometimes a "theory" is what we can call a /kyriotheory/,
namely a coherent system of evidence, principles, and methods,
offering a comprehensive understanding of a broad topic.

A hypotheory is much less than a fact, whereas a kyriotheory
is much grander than any single rule or fact.

I make it a policy to avoid the word "theory" in contexts
such as this, because it is often misunderstood or even
deliberately twisted.