“To my mind, symbiosis and Darwinism are complementary in the sense that the Genome has evolved a diversity of mechanisms for hereditary change, which is then honed by natural selection. Where the change arises from a series of random mutations, natural selection is the prime creative force. This is exactly how Darwin himself saw it and it’s the reason he excluded sudden change as applying to natural selection. But where change arises from the coming together of two already evolved species, whether exo- and endosymbiotic, I see the change itself as the main creative force with natural selection acting as a refining and honing editor.”
This makes sense to me. At the same time, I must object to the Darwinists’ hogging of the term “natural selection.” What is symbiogenesis?—unnatural selection? If natural selection means merely “elimination of the weakest by means of circumstantial factors,” then it should be called what it is—circumstantial selection.
In all, Ryan’s new book is an important read for professional and lay alike. Darwin’s Blind Spot is a highly significant saltation in the literature of evolutionary science.
Copyright 2006 TD Hall
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