Would you mind sharing your opinion on the debate at Moran's blog? Which of the camps you identify with, if any?
Also, if you could write up a short list of top biology bloggers you follow and recommend, I'd be grateful. I want to follow the field and the debates more closely than I have been (which was hardly at all).
Would you mind sharing your opinion on the debate at Moran's blog? Which of the camps you identify with, if any?
I'm more or less in the middle. Moran is right that Dawkins and Dennett went a bit too far toward adaptationism (by dismissing the importance of neutral evolution) in the quoted passages. But it was forgivable carelessness/oversimplification on Dennett's part. Dawkins, OTOH, is just being stubborn in not conceding that many naked-eye visible characters are probably selectively neutral. But Moran is being a bit of an asshole as well.
I stron...
Larry Moran is a Canadian biochemist and textbook author who has a blog about evolutionary biology called The Sandwalk. Recently he has been posting essay questions which he intends to use in an upcoming test of his students. Quotes from Richard Dawkins and Daniel Dennett that he wants his students to critique. Also some quotes from Richard Lewontin that he wants his readers to admire.
The interesting thing is that Dennett and Dawkins have both jumped into the discussion, as have a number of my favorite (though lesser known) biology bloggers. Interesting discussion. Worth a look if you are interested in evolutionary biology.