I’m not saying that flight wouldn’t have happened at all without birds to look to. I’m saying that I think it would have taken somewhat longer, measured in years—decades.
I think this is plausible, especially if you make the range of “somewhat longer” so big that it encompasses more than an order of magnitude of time, as in years—decades. It’s still not obvious to me, though.
I’m not saying that flight wouldn’t have happened at all without birds to look to. I’m saying that I think it would have taken somewhat longer, measured in years—decades.
I think this is plausible, especially if you make the range of “somewhat longer” so big that it encompasses more than an order of magnitude of time, as in years—decades. It’s still not obvious to me, though.