Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

> Pure Darwinism (inheritance only through natural selection and random
> variations) has never been scientifically, absolutely proven.
> There is an alternate theory, called Larmarckian, that offers substantial
> experimental evidence for inheritance of acquired (physical) traits.
> Read The Case of the Midwife Toad by Arthur Koestler. That book changed my
> life ~30 yrs ago. 
>
> Also, the constant formation of new neural connections in the brain is, I
> think, more relevant to behavior than genetics. This relates to the
> interesting thread on Bey Shah temperaments.
One needs to keep in mind that Darwin was the pioneer, and that so-called "pure 
Darwinism" is about like calling Civil War battlefield medicine "pure 
medicine."  One must not throw the baby out with the bathwater as variations 
and additional inputs are recognized.

With regard to new neural connections in the brain, absolutely "environment" is 
essential to behavior, and it is environment that causes the experiences that 
cause the brain to form new neural connections.  That still doesn't take away 
from the genetic components of behavior, which are considerable.  Having raised 
multiple foals by several different stallions, it is amazing how similarly the 
offspring of each will react to different things, and will develop mentally in 
similar fashions, despite a communal enviroment with the foals of the other 
stallions.  I've also identified some specific behavior traits in multiple 
offspring of long-gone stallions that have come to me from widely-varied 
programs and environments--but nonetheless they share the quirky behaviors, 
whereas other horses coming from the same programs and same places do not.

Genetics give an individual specific potentials.  Environment determines what 
happens to those potentials.  Both are responsible for the "final product," if 
there is such a thing, since we all change and adapt daily.

Heidi

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.
Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp
Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp

Ride Long and Ride Safe!!

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=