Species evolve exactly as if they were adapting as best they could to a changing world, and not at all as if they were moving toward a set goal.
George Gaylord SimpsonRead
Now we do have many examples of transitional sequences.
Interpretation
This quote implies that there are observable sequences in evolutionary changes over time.
George Gaylord Simpson's quote highlights the existence of 'transitional sequences' which are evidence of the gradual evolution of species. These sequences provide insight into how different species are related and depict the process of change within the natural world, supporting the theory of evolution with tangible examples from the fossil record.
In practice
In a lecture on evolution, one might quote Simpson to illustrate the concept of transitional fossils.
Species evolve exactly as if they were adapting as best they could to a changing world, and not at all as if they were moving toward a set goal.
If a sect does officially insist that its structure of belief demands that evolution be false, then no compromise is possible. An honest and competent biology teacher can only conclude that the sect's beliefs are wrong and that its religion is a false one.
He is a state of matter, a form of life, a sort of animal, and a species of the Order Primates, akin nearly or remotely to all of life and indeed to all that is material.
Man is the result of a purposeless and materialistic process that did not have him in mind. He was not planned. He is a state of matter, a form of life, a sort of animal, and a species of the Order Primates, akin nearly or remotely to all of life and indeed to all that is material.
Man is the result of a purposeless and natural process that did not have him in mind
To put it crudely but graphically, the monkey who did not have a realistic perception of the tree branch he jumped for was soon a dead monkey-and therefore did not become one of our ancestors.
The human brain is an incredible pattern-matching machine.
A strong intuition is much more powerful than a weal test. Normals teach us rules; outliers teach us laws. For every perfect medical experiment, there is a perfect human bias.
To come very near to a true theory, and to grasp its precise application, are two different things, as the history of science teaches us. Everything of importance has been said before by someone who did not discover it.
If there is anything more frightening than the threat of global nuclear war, it is the certainty that humans not only stand on the verge of producing new life forms but may soon be able to tinker with them as if they were vintage convertibles or bonsai trees.
I've had a chance to fly a lot of different airplanes, but it was nothing like the shuttle ride.
There are many people talking about access to space and, 'How can we make that cheaper? How can we turn that into a Southwest Airlines versus the big airlines?'
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