Evolution as a pachinko history: what is 'random'?

W e discussed a Japanese pachinko machine in an earlier post , a pinball machine, as an example of the difference between randomness and det...

adaptationchanceevolutionnatural selectionpachinko machines

Is genetics still metaphysical? Part VI. What might lead to a transformative insight in biology today--if we need one

I t's easy to complain about the state of the world, in this case, of the life sciences, and much harder to provide the Big New Insights...

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Is genetics still metaphysical? Part V. Examples of conditions that lead to transformative insights

A   commenter on this series asked what I thought that "a theory of biology should (realistically) aspire to predict?" The series ...

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Is genetics still metaphysical? Part III. Or could that be right after all?

I n the two prior parts of this little series ( I and II ), we've discussed the way in which unknown, putatively causative entities we...

Empiricismevolutiongeneticsmetaphysicsnatural lawsciencetheory

Is genetics still metaphysical? Part II. Is that wrong?

W hat is the role of theory vs empiricism in science?  How do these distinctions apply to genetics? Yesterday, we discussed some of the his...

Empiricismevolutiongeneticshistory of sciencesciencetheory

This is the forest primeval: each tree an evolution

T his is the forest primeval.  The murmuring pines and the hemlocks, Bearded with moss, and in garments green, indistinct in the twilight, S...

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Causal complexity in life

E volution is the process that generates the relationships between genomes and traits in organisms.  Although we have written extensively an...

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