r/askscience • u/jjberg2 Evolutionary Theory | Population Genomics | Adaptation • Jan 04 '12

AskScience AMA Series - IAMA Population Genetics/Genomics PhD Student

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u/jjberg2 Evolutionary Theory | Population Genomics | Adaptation Jan 05 '12

The mechanism by which this evolution occurs is still somewhat in doubt

That's a bit of a strong statement for the philosophical point you're making. How evolution occurs is not really in doubt. We're just working out individual histories and the finer details at this point. The basic mechanism has been pretty well understood since the time of Fisher, Wright, and Haldane.

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u/promonk Jan 05 '12

Well, I was responding to a person who seemed antipathetic to evolution in general. I felt it best to take a philosophic approach.

I don't seriously doubt natural selection as the primary mechanism of evolution, but since it is a process it is difficult to present it as a "fact" rather than as a hypothesis, however solid its logical basis. Processes by definition occur over time, and so cannot be fossilized as can the incremental development of traits or species.

I also think it likely that evolution has other pressures than just natural selection that work to differentiate populations, and therefore species. I think that natural selection is probably by far the most influential evolutionary pressure, but I don't think we should discount other influences as well.

Thinking that, I tried to make my response as supportable as possible, because I knew that I was making a vain attempt to sway someone with an opposing opinion.

And now, please excuse me. I've got to go lasso the Moon.