How well do you understand Darwin's theory of natural selection?

[BurtWorm]

[ewagner]

1. Much better

after reading Richard Dawkins....

I had a basic understanding but didn't have the clarity I needed to stop certain ....dissenters?...but now I feel very comfortable with it.

[BurtWorm]

2. Which Dawkins did you read?

I read The Ancestor's Tale a couple of summers ago and found it to be extremely clarifying. Another excellent introduction is Sean B. Carroll's The Making of the Fittest.

[ewagner]

3. The God Delusion

I ordered the Selfish Gene also but it hasn't arrived yet.

[Solly Mack]

4. Ponders if answers qualify as a phenotype

Do short beaked people overcompensate?

What's it allele about, Alfieeeee....

[mike_c]

5. two points I'd like to make....

First, I'm a biologist and among other things I teach evolution, so I feel confident that I understand the topic well.

Second, when I ask that same question, and follow it up with further inquiry, the majority of folks I ask respond similarly to the majority of folks in this poll-- that is, they affirm their understanding of natural selection and evolution in general. Then they proceed to demonstrate a great deal of misunderstanding.

Natural selection is the differential reproductive success of individuals with adaptive phenotypes. It results in changing allele frequency among population gene pools through time. Natural selection is one of several mechanisms by which evolution occurs, but it is the only one that consistently results in the accumulation of adaptive variations.

[Nikki Stone1]

6. Hey Professor Mike. Glad to see you weigh in on this one.

I think it's important to distinguish "adaptive to the environment" from the general idea of "progress" (or how we currently use the term "evolve" in casual conversation.) I think that's where a lot of misunderstanding occurs.

[BurtWorm]

7. I know what you're saying. I wish I could think of a way to test how well DUers

*really* understand natural selection.

[realisticphish]

8. survival of the fittest, right?

Just kidding :D

I despise that phrase

[mike_c]

9. me too....

eom

[eppur_se_muova]

11. Darwin didn't care for it either, and it's not a scientific term.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survival_of_the_fittest

[slackmaster]

10. FYI, Charles Darwin's major works are all available for free

I often refer people who are completely clueless about Darwin's work to Project Gutenberg:

http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/2009