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Te point OP is making is that being born without tusks is just a random chance, not a response to anything but as a result of this random chance, this elephant

Te point OP is making is that being born without tusks is just a random chance, not a response to anything but as a result of this random chance, this elephant has a higher chance of living longer and having more babies resulting in higher chance of the "tuskless gene" being passed on to future generations. The distinction is important to understand evolution correctly. A lot of evolution deniers have a problem with the "intelligent response" aspect of it which doesn't actually exist.

Ygg2 4y ago
> Te point OP is making is that being born without tusks is just a random chance Yes. That's how evolution works. Your genes are randomized during life/mating. Due to selection pressure one variation is favored over the other. That's evolution. So in evolutionary response to poachers elephants evolve no tusks.
- nverno 4y ago
  It is pedantic, but I see how 'response' here lends agency to evolution, and could be interpreted as implying an intelligent process, as mentioned above.
  - Ygg2 4y ago
    Same way any inanimate system can respond. Think of it more like action/reaction than anything else. I.e. there is no agency just a set of interacting rules.
    - nverno 4y ago
      Yea, I think the original wording is fine, although I'd think of it more like the elephant genes are a river that got dammed, so the river started flowing around. Saying the river responded to the dam would be similar.
  - fastball 4y ago
    If anyone thinks evolution has "agency" because the word "response" was used to describe it, their understanding of evolution is clearly very limited and I'm not sure how productively that person can participate in a conversation about such.
  - akvadrako 4y ago
    Evolution is an intelligence in the same way people call anything AI: it's a system which can learn and adapt.
throw827474737 4y ago
You are overly pedantic as well :D (Noone thinks that "getting born" involves intelligence choosing, the point you are repeating applies sometimes, but here out of context imo.)
- owaislone 4y ago
  I know people who used to think evolution is by design or somehow intelligent. Maybe it was a byproduct of the education system in my part of the world and yours did a better job but I've come across a lot of people who think like that. I feel it is an important distinction to make to avoid propagating such misconceptions about science.
refurb 4y ago
You are correct. Evolution is not a process by which beneficial genes are created, it's one where they are filtered for. Across thousands of baby elephants there are a likely hundreds of unique genetic differences. Most are worthless, some are detrimental, and some of beneficial. Evolution is just the process by which the beneficial ones thrive.

Ygg2 4y ago

> Te point OP is making is that being born without tusks is just a random chance Yes. That's how evolution works. Your genes are randomized during life/mating. Due to selection pressure one variation is favored over the other. That's evolution. So in evolutionary response to poachers elephants evolve no tusks.

nverno 4y ago
It is pedantic, but I see how 'response' here lends agency to evolution, and could be interpreted as implying an intelligent process, as mentioned above.
- Ygg2 4y ago
  Same way any inanimate system can respond. Think of it more like action/reaction than anything else. I.e. there is no agency just a set of interacting rules.
  - nverno 4y ago
    Yea, I think the original wording is fine, although I'd think of it more like the elephant genes are a river that got dammed, so the river started flowing around. Saying the river responded to the dam would be similar.
- fastball 4y ago
  If anyone thinks evolution has "agency" because the word "response" was used to describe it, their understanding of evolution is clearly very limited and I'm not sure how productively that person can participate in a conversation about such.
- akvadrako 4y ago
  Evolution is an intelligence in the same way people call anything AI: it's a system which can learn and adapt.

throw827474737 4y ago

You are overly pedantic as well :D (Noone thinks that "getting born" involves intelligence choosing, the point you are repeating applies sometimes, but here out of context imo.)

owaislone 4y ago
I know people who used to think evolution is by design or somehow intelligent. Maybe it was a byproduct of the education system in my part of the world and yours did a better job but I've come across a lot of people who think like that. I feel it is an important distinction to make to avoid propagating such misconceptions about science.

refurb 4y ago

You are correct. Evolution is not a process by which beneficial genes are created, it's one where they are filtered for. Across thousands of baby elephants there are a likely hundreds of unique genetic differences. Most are worthless, some are detrimental, and some of beneficial. Evolution is just the process by which the beneficial ones thrive.