pz

Well, if you do get a chance to look at it again, note the 6th paragraph where he admits that "no one can know and understand everything", and that last sentence, "Our dilemma is that we do not know how to provide that power". It is a strongly critical review, but throughout it I see admissions that it is a thorny problem and that Lewontin doesn't know how to address it, either. That's why I fail to see anger in it.

And yes, he does make several good points along the way, and I think he delivers some real zingers to Sagan. Unfortunately, the fate of Richard C. Lewontin is to be dismissed as that radical Marxist, rather than to have those points recognized as significant scientific issues.

DNAunion

DNAunion: Well of course DNA makes plenty of mistakes, otherwise, there wouldn't be such a thing as evolution! :-)

DNAunion: Hmmm, I am aware of only one mistake I made in that thread. And if you will look, in my original post, I explicitly stated that I didn't spend much time thinking things through before creating the thread. Also, I immediately acknowledged my oversite - I did not argue for days/weeks that I was somehow right and that others had surely misinterpreted what I said.

PS: And Principia, you made a couple of, well, "problematic" statements in that thread too. If I have time (semester is ending this week and so I won't have easy access to the net for several weeks), I might point them out.