Thread by @yoginho

Good morning #ISHPSSB19! Today: “Networks and the ontology of the theory of evolution.”

First up: W. Ford Doolittle, ITSNTS. #ISHPSSB19

“Peter Godfrey Smith is the paradigm of a serious Darwinist.” #ISHPSSB19

Doolittle: re-production without reproduction. #ISHPSSB10

“And yet, the song persists and evolves over time.” #ISHPSSB19

ITSNTS is like many things, but different! #ISHPSSB19

ITSNUTS has some problems: individuation is one. Accounting for origins and closure are others. #ISHPSSB19

More on ITSNUTS here, if you’re interested: pnas.org/content/115/16…. #ISHPSSB19

Next up: Stefan Lindquist’s practical guide to universal Darwinism. #ISHPSSB19

Lindquist: Universal Darwinism – “whenever a system exhibits apparent design or functional complexity, attempt to construe it as the product of natural selection.” #ISHPSSB19

Lindquist: what’s the point of Universal Darwinism? (1) Abstract description for a pure understanding of evolutionary process. (2) Search for a theoretical tool for application in new domains. #ISHPSSB19

Lindquist: eco-evo approaches based on natural selection more onerous than purely ecological or historical approaches alone. #ISHPSSB19

Lindquist: examples that are explainable by strictly ecological approaches include beavers in Tierra del Fuego, transposons in genomes, and patterns of cultural evolution. #ISHPSSB2019

Lindquist: instead of ontological Universal Darwinism, take an epistemologically driven approach. Start with a clear pattern of interest and determine how much of that is explainable by ecology, history, or both. #ISHPSSB19

Next: Nathalie Gontier goes beyond genealogy, using networks to model the extended present. #ISHPSSB19

Gontier: network thinking is a paradigm shift departing from trees or timelines. Symbiosis interpreted as reticulate evolution. Even suggests a new interpretation of time. #ISHPSSB19