Darwinism is based on two fundamental tenets:<\/p>\n
\nThe current version is better called neo-Darwinism because Darwin did not know about genes.<\/p>\n
\nAs Karl Popper pointed out, tenet (1) is really a tautology, not however in the sense that it is trivially true, but in the sense that it is necessarily true. That it is a tautology is demonstrated by its application to other areas; it is not necessarily limited to biology. It can lead to fruitful lines of thinking, for example, in game theory, when it is understood not merely as the survival advantage of different traits, but moreover as the survival advantage of particular strategies of behaviour. Thus, different strategies can be simulated by computer software and the results analyzed.\n<\/p>\n
\nThe second tenet is more problematic.\n<\/p>\n
\nNone of these assumptions is intuitively obvious. Nor have they been demonstrated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Darwinism is based on two fundamental tenets: Survival of the fittest Variation in a population is the result of random genetic mutations The current version is better called neo-Darwinism because Darwin did not know about genes. As Karl Popper pointed out, tenet (1) is really a tautology, not however in … Continue reading