Would Finding Alien Life Change Religious Philosophies?

[cbayer]

86. Serious, imm. I like you and I think you generally speak from

a solid knowledge base, but in this instance I think you are not understanding this concept.

Whether Darwin understood the mechanics or not, he was definitely describing random genetic mutations.

Mutation is not about atomic decay. It is random errors in sequencing. The "letters" aren't damaged, they are simply substituted by other letters. I think you were confusing it with mutagens.

This is how new mutations lead to adaptation. Let's say a bug is sought out by a bird by a smell and that all the bugs have this smell. Then, randomly, a bug is born with a mutation that keeps it from emitting this smell. In this case, that could be good, because it increases it's chances of survival. That means it increases it's chances of reproducing and passing on the mutation, which then become an adaptation by the species to avoid getting eaten by this bird.

You are right. Most mutations are maladaptive but once in awhile one occurs randomly that increases the likelihood of reproduction.

You probably would enjoy a course, but you don't need one, and I apologize for being rude.