http://brianrisk.com/link-tiger-2/ Can it be? Fri, 02 Mar 2012 06:22:47 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 http://brianrisk.com/link-tiger-2/comment-page-1/#comment-1350 guy who keeps changing his name on brian's blog Sun, 03 Jun 2007 06:41:27 +0000 http://brianrisk.com/link-tiger-2/#comment-1350 Not the greatest article on red. Are they saying primates evolved the ability to see red so that they could spot berries from far away or what? These things are often touted like software features, but that's not how it works in evolution. The real question we rarely see answered by these people is why species A evolved the trait and not species B. Added complexity is usually a disadvantage unless it adds something very useful. Seems to me it would be pretty darn cool for all species to be able to see red stuff, so the question is why we can do it and why species B, C, and D can't. I love when I read the argument that goes something like this... "The female tufted muskrat has gradually evolved larger tufts because it appears that males prefer larger tufts." It doesn't work that way. Evolution selects for productive traits, so you can't say that women have breasts because men like breasts. Women have breasts so they can have babies, and evolution tells men to prefer women who can raise babies. But who knows what LiveScience magazine is. It could be a spamblog for all I know (awkward cough). To be an elitist intellectual and properly defend my position I'd have to read the actual journal article, and what kind of self-respecting American with American Idol reruns to watch would ever do that crap? Not the greatest article on red. Are they saying primates evolved the ability to see red so that they could spot berries from far away or what? These things are often touted like software features, but that’s not how it works in evolution. The real question we rarely see answered by these people is why species A evolved the trait and not species B. Added complexity is usually a disadvantage unless it adds something very useful. Seems to me it would be pretty darn cool for all species to be able to see red stuff, so the question is why we can do it and why species B, C, and D can’t. I love when I read the argument that goes something like this… “The female tufted muskrat has gradually evolved larger tufts because it appears that males prefer larger tufts.” It doesn’t work that way. Evolution selects for productive traits, so you can’t say that women have breasts because men like breasts. Women have breasts so they can have babies, and evolution tells men to prefer women who can raise babies. But who knows what LiveScience magazine is. It could be a spamblog for all I know (awkward cough). To be an elitist intellectual and properly defend my position I’d have to read the actual journal article, and what kind of self-respecting American with American Idol reruns to watch would ever do that crap?

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