I’d also like to request an explanation of why punctuated equilibrium matters to anyone other than paleontologists. So rates of morphological change per se are sometimes fast and sometimes slow. (I believe modern research has strongly suggested that the “equilibrium” part of PE actually exhibits equally strong selective effects and equal rates of genetic change, just not differently shaped organisms.) So what? So the old gradualists are mistaken? Okay, but then what? What follows from this?
Contrast to, say, sociobiology which has reorganized our understanding of every social animal species. Contrast to reciprocal altruism which has spawned a new field of evolutionary science as well as game theory. Contrast to intragenomic competition which is opening up whole new vistas of explanation for vast redundant stretches of DNA, and showing how the existence of a multicellular organism is a constant battle to protect the fairness of the reproductive organs. Contrast to the gene’s-eye-view revolution that destroyed hundreds if not thousands of specific biological misconceptions about the purposes of adaptations. These revolutions reshaped our anticipations, not just our beliefs.
What is punctuated equilibrium, that it should even be mentioned in the same breath as such innovations? And what is Gould’s specific contribution to the concept, besides the name? Enlighten me, if I am ignorant.
I’d also like to request an explanation of why punctuated equilibrium matters to anyone other than paleontologists. So rates of morphological change per se are sometimes fast and sometimes slow. (I believe modern research has strongly suggested that the “equilibrium” part of PE actually exhibits equally strong selective effects and equal rates of genetic change, just not differently shaped organisms.) So what? So the old gradualists are mistaken? Okay, but then what? What follows from this?
Contrast to, say, sociobiology which has reorganized our understanding of every social animal species. Contrast to reciprocal altruism which has spawned a new field of evolutionary science as well as game theory. Contrast to intragenomic competition which is opening up whole new vistas of explanation for vast redundant stretches of DNA, and showing how the existence of a multicellular organism is a constant battle to protect the fairness of the reproductive organs. Contrast to the gene’s-eye-view revolution that destroyed hundreds if not thousands of specific biological misconceptions about the purposes of adaptations. These revolutions reshaped our anticipations, not just our beliefs.
What is punctuated equilibrium, that it should even be mentioned in the same breath as such innovations? And what is Gould’s specific contribution to the concept, besides the name? Enlighten me, if I am ignorant.