ca. 1998 I had a revelation when after my explanation of what I thought species were in an undergrad lecture, a bright student asked: "well doesn't that mean dog breeds are different species?" And she was totally correct! THAT was exactly what Darwin was trying to argue in his book! 2/3 - ThreadSky

wtf-r-species.bsky.social • 39 days ago

ca. 1998 I had a revelation when after my explanation of what I thought species were in an undergrad lecture, a bright student asked: "well doesn't that mean dog breeds are different species?" And she was totally correct! THAT was exactly what Darwin was trying to argue in his book! 2/3

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wtf-r-species.bsky.social•39 days ago

To Darwin, and after this, to me, artificial selection is not just an analogy of natural selection, it is the same thing! Today we are steeped in ideas of "reproductive isolation" and "speciation barriers", but Darwin seems to have got it right all along 3/3

carrieonbaggage.bsky.social•39 days ago

Darwin wasn't trying to argue that pigeon breeding is natural selection. He was using it to demonstrate that single traits can be inherited and enhanced by selective breeding, not the complexity of natural selection on a population.

jrossibarra.bsky.social•39 days ago

Disagree!

jrossibarra.bsky.social•39 days ago

Too short form here but Darwin really was arguing that he saw no difference between what breeders have done and what natural selection does. Even imagining natural selection as a breeder who could evaluate every inner and outer trait and could work over millions of years.

ryanamartin.bsky.social•39 days ago

Yes I think Darwin was arguing the mechanism of action was exactly the same

carrieonbaggage.bsky.social•39 days ago

Phenotypic plasticity is not speciation.

jrossibarra.bsky.social•39 days ago

Haha maybe we were talking at odds unintentionally because this is what I’ve been trying to argue.

jmergeay.bsky.social•38 days ago

Species are merely boxes humans define to categorize individuals, understand the world better and communicate easily about it. But that doesn’t make them true. Diversity isn’t categorical, it’s continuous. When gaps arise we call out species more easily. In the end it’s just a construct.

wtf-r-species.bsky.social•38 days ago

Kind of agree but your hyperlink didn’t work for me

jmergeay.bsky.social•38 days ago

that was a glitch by bluesky. when I typed it suddenly created a nonexisting hyperlink out of nowhere, which I only saw after I had posted it

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