Don McLeroy on Stephen Jay Gould and stasis

[heathdwatts]

Here is a great quote:

1. "Since we proposed punctuated equilibria to explain trends, it is infuriating to be quoted again and again by creationists--whether through design or stupidity, I do not know--as admitting that the fossil record includes no transitional forms. Transitional forms are generally lacking at the species level, but they are abundant between larger groups." Stephen Jay Gould, "Evolution as Fact and Theory. Hen's Teeth and Horse's Toes," 1983, Norton, New York.

[tehKap0w]

ironic that a medical professional can say something SO wrong.

If he wasnt a zealot he'd be embarrassed to expouse such crap AT A SCHOOL BOARD MEETING.

"somebody's gotta stand up to these experts!"

/facepalm

[aUsernameAvailable]

SJG must be turning in his grave.

SJG's beef was with the "oxford" stance on the mechanism on evolution - constant gradual change.

SJG believed species evolution slowed/stopped until some imbalance happened - a new mutation, maybe environmental factors which triggered another "spurt" of change.

Hence SJG suggested PUNCTUATED EQUILIBRIUM is the mechanism for evolution.

Other youtubers plz correct me if I'm a bit off.

[FiverBeyond]

No, you're spot on. Stephen Jay Gould was especially dissapointed and by his own words saddened that creationists would use his words as evidence of any kind of weakness in the Theory of Evolution. He specifically testified in court against creationists, and said several times that transitional forms were rife in the fossil record.

[Ematched]

@FiverBeyond The banana man did the same thing in his fraudulent edition of Origin of the Species for the 150th anniversary. I was lucky enough to snag a free copy of that despicably-corrupted text. There was even an entire chapter excised. It's detestable how low opponents of evolution will stoop.

[benthemiester]

The only one who is bringing up religion are the atheist, go figure.

[hslch]

This is akin to quote mining from Einstein's special relativity and using it to argue against general relativity.

[a0eoj]

Is this a joke? What the hell is wrong with Texas? Are they trying pretend they're living in the 12th century? Is this guy really trying to argue against the overwhelmingly established fact of biological evolution? Some people, like the dipshit in this video, must not even consider the negative impact they're having on their own kids. What a f*ing idiot!

[mrose59]

i did and that guy is a quack with a religious agenda

[mrose59]

no it is a theory, that means it is more valuable than fact

[beastlt12]

I can't watch anymore of these videos. This guy is pathetic! I feel sorry for the kids in Texas.

[crocaduck]

1"Every day, hundreds of observations and experiments pour into the hopper of the scientific literature. Many of them don't have much to do with evolution--they're observations about details of physiology, biochemistry, development, and so on--but many of them do. And every fact that has something to do with evolution confirms its truth. Every fossil that we find, every DNA molecule that we sequence, every organ system that we dissect supports the idea the species evolved from common ancestors.

[crocaduck]

2 Despite innumerable possible observations that could prove evolution untrue, we don't have a single one. We don't find mammals in precambrian rocks, humans in the same layers as dinosaurs, or any other fossils out of evolutionary order. DNA sequencing supports the evolutionary relationships of species originally deduced from the fossil record. And, as natural selection predicts, we find no species with adaptations that benefit only a different species.

[crocaduck]

3 We do find dead genes and vestigial organs, incomprehensible under the idea of special creation. Despite a million chances to be wrong, evolution always comes up right. That is as close as we can get to a scientific truth."

p222-223 from Why Evolution is True by Jerry A. Coyne

[CSHallo]

A very good book

[crocaduck]

Was Ernst Mayr a paleontologist?

The fossil record is thick with examples now.

What does Gould say about evolution? Species may undergo change to track changes in their environment. But if the environment stabilizes, they would probably change little except for genetic drift or similar.

Quote mining shows weaknesses in the theory? Ha

Wow, biologists must be flattered getting all this attention being paid to what they wrote. I noticed no quotes from 'Why Evolution is True' by Coyne.

[VoteNixon2008]

It sort of make logical sense that species would radiate and reach some point of stasis because further divergence would require changes that have pros and cons and so overall the populations will remain stable

[dkhawk316]

Gould is arguing against gradualism, not against evolution. His point is that species very quickly reach at point of stasis and remain that way until they disappear (presumably having been displaced by another species or having become too specialized and unable to adapt to a changing environment).

[bsdetection]

Gould dealt with the Mcleroys of the world': I want to argue that the sudden appearance of species in the fossil record and our failure to note subsequent evolutionary change within them is the proper prediction of evolutionary theory as we understand it. [] Evolutionary sequences are not rungs on a ladder, but our retrospective reconstruction of a circuitous path running like a labyrinth, branch to branch, from the base of the bush to a lineage now surviving at its top.

[artgoat]

The sign behind him on the wall is wrong. He should be director of the "State Board of Indoctrination."

[Stipoon]

Does it matter if he is reading for Gould's book, not necessarily peer reviewed sience? Since science does not rely on authority, be Gould or Huxley.

[unaka2012]

five stars to help expose this fool.

[Trin80ty]

5 stars for this video exposing McLeroy's scientific ignorance by using his own words.

[sornord]

This guy is too ignorant on Evolution to even know what he's complaining about. This idiot is simply quoting stuff entirely out of context. He has no clue about science!

How do morons and crooks like this get onto school boards?

[ivorbueb]

McLeroy should be keeping Madoff company. Dishonesty needs company.

[thawkeye24]

This is also a classic example of quote mining by creationists! To even use Gould's work to criticize evolution is ludicrous!

[JackBlair2]

What are some of the latest findings regarding the theory of punctuated equilibrium?

[JosephKnight93]

I can't express how furious this makes me. This is an example of crass idiocy at its worst—in our school systems.