RE: paleonet Punctuated Equilibrium (OT?)

[plotnick <plotnick@xxxxxxx>]

>===== Original Message From Ben Ocean <list@thewebsons.com> =====
>Hi;
>I'm writing a sci-fi novel and I need some help. I had heard that in
>punctuated equilibrium many genetic mutations take place in a seeming
>cascade: something that would indicate that there might be an underlying
>intelligence behind this. Is this true? Can you point me to a source that
>can justify this?
>Thanks,
>BenO

Ben: 
this seems to be some sort of version of the self-organized criticality (SOC) 
concept developed by the physicist Per Bak (see his book How Nature Works).  
It equates punctuated equilibrium with mutational cascades.  This is incorrect 
on numerous points, not the least is that punctuated equilibrium is not a 
theory of mutations (see Steve Gould's just published book or "Time Frames" by 
Niles Eldredge).  In any event, SOC does not require or postulate an 
"underlying intelligence," if anything, it strongly contradicts such a 
concept.
-Roy Plotnick

Roy E. Plotnick
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
University of Illinois at Chicago
845 W. Taylor St. 
Chicago, Il .60607
phone: 312-996-2111   630-252-6377(May-August)
e-mail: plotnick@uic.edu
homepage: http://www.uic.edu/depts/geos/people/faculty/plotnick.html

"Those who do not know the literature are condemned to repeat it."