kula said:
What i was trying to say (hope this is a better attempt) is that evolution is powered by the living organism using its 'sense' experiences to program or alter its own DNA (biofeedback ?). Is consciousness required for this....well.....er....dont know, but i'm kinda presuming that all life is conscious to some extent.
kula
You are in good company. Darwin coined the term gemmules to describe the tiny physical units he believed carried inheritable traits. Each trait came from the part of the body it held the code for. He believed these gemmules would be altered both consciously, and otherwise, to be more suited for the environment. Once altered, these traits could be passed on to the next generation.
What this allowed for, was a system, that had been described in 1809, by Lamarck. He called it
Philosophie Zoologique. It is now called inheritance of acquired characteristics, or, doctrine of use and disuse.
The typical example of Lamarckian inheritance are giraffes. His system suggested that giraffes needed long necks. So, they would stretch as far as they could stretch and their necks could reach just a little higher. The next generation would, as a result of their parents efforts, have slightly longer necks. Soon, giraffes had necks that worked for them so they didn't need to change anymore.
Both of these men were brilliant. But, in this instance, they were both very wrong. It is easy to disprove once you think about it. Imagine your dad was a body builder. If he got huge before he had children, would his children be any bigger? They would not. These were ideas to explain the concept of inheritance. This concept itself was new.
In 1866 Mendel (He was a monk. -for the creationists who are convinced evolution is at odds with creationism) published his work. If you want to have a serious discussion about evolution or inheritance, you must have a basic understanding of Mendelian genetics. You must be able to discuss Mendel's four postulates. If I list them here, you won't have to look them up. And, you will have the false idea that you know them. So, if you are serious about proving anything or disproving anything (786) look them up. Then, if nothing else, you can know what it is you agree or disagree with.