This change parallels the emergence of theories of evaluation which ultimately resulted in Lamarck's theory of soft inheritance (inheritance in which anything that occurs to a parent is passed down to offspring) being all but abandoned. Shenk seems to suggest that there may actually be reason to return to Lamark and that our straight forward Mendel view of genetics is flawed.
In what ways can the actual truth about evolution be considered a consolidation of multiple view points on evolution? Is Lamark's theory of soft inheritance at all corroborated by Shenk or should it continue to be discredited as incorrect? What of Shenk's evidence suggests that even with new research we may not have a complete understanding of genetics?
Evolution is suggesting in this circumstance that there is a certain level that each characteristic is passed on. The use of evolution in this argument addresses the issue that there are not only beneficial characteristics in people so there is no way that all of the beneficial characteristics of parents are passed down to their children. If this were the case, it would only take a few generations to see dramatic change instead of the huge time frame that is necessary for evolution to show up in people.
ReplyDeleteSoft inheritance basically addresses how "an organism can pass on characteristics that it acquired during its lifetime to its offspring." This idea is probably very humanized becasue of the self centered nature of people. Everyone wants to believe that what they are doing is going to affect the way the next generation lives and going to inspire and physically change the next generation. This however is not the case because of the entire concept of evolution with the need of many centuries of change to make an substantial or noticeable change. This theory shouldnt be discreditied because it lays down the frame work for future generations but isnt in itself what is making the change on its own.
People still dont know about genetics the complexity of the switches and the way that each gene can be activated. For example, a specific trait could be passed down in a gene but is never activated and is never shown. Then the trait could be passed down again but never seen. This is the trouble with not knowing everything about genetics and trying to place a theory on something we dont fully understand.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soft_inheritance
Hannah Perl (hannahperl94@gmail.com)