"If it could be proved that any part of the structure of any one species had been formed for the exclusive good of another species, it would annihilate my theory, for such could not have been produced through natural selection." Charles Darwin, Origin of Species 1st edition (on Kindle)
I find this quote interesting but finding it hard to articulate why. It isn't just that is a critical test (in the Popperian sense) of natural selection but that it is, I believe, not a direct prediction of selection itself. I haven't found this particular sentiment in Darwin's letters or journals. So I suspect this comes from a reader of the manuscript near submission and probably one of Darwin's friends (I suspect Hooker). I find it very insightful and I wonder where it comes from.
All white bluebird eggs (they're normally blue).
"If it could be proved that any part of the structure of any one species had been formed for the exclusive good of another species, it would annihilate my theory, for such could not have been produced through natural selection." Charles Darwin, Origin of Species 1st edition (on Kindle)
I find this quote interesting but finding it hard to articulate why. It isn't just that is a critical test (in the Popperian sense) of natural selection but that it is, I believe, not a direct prediction of selection itself. I haven't found this particular sentiment in Darwin's letters or journals. So I suspect this comes from a reader of the manuscript near submission and probably one of Darwin's friends (I suspect Hooker). I find it very insightful and I wonder where it comes from.
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| All white bluebird eggs (they're normally blue). |
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