Hi, Krushnamegh, I pretty much agree with you (not about evolution, of course, but the rest of your message). Evolution is somewhat controversial here, and a discussion often leads to heated exchanges. I'm not terribly tolerant of such discussions, but I tend to get along well with people of any view as long as nobody is trying to push one view or the other. I don't think religion is necessarily a determiner of how people think on this issue, especially since my husband rejected evolution while he was an agnostic.
Natural selection only causes some species to die off. It is not a mechanism to generate the new DNA information necessary to cause the appearance of new and different species. Most genetic drift causes changes that are detrimental. I will post some pictures soon as requested. I've been out in the field so much, birding, that I have had very little time to do things like that. I took nearly 900 pictures day before yesterday, and I just finished going through them late yesterday. Take care, Pat Kunte, Krushnamegh wrote: > > > Pat, people in India and elsewhere are usually more tolerant of > religious and atheist/evolutionary views compared to Americans. I see > the same butterflies that you do and I am completely convinced that > evolution by natural selection, with a little bit of genetic drift > once in a while, has shaped their, as you put it, “design” (I would > call it their structure). But that’s all right because my personal > experience, thinking, worldview and training are different than yours. > As long as we all appreciate beauty of butterflies and can have a > fruitful discussion about what Indian butterflies are and do, I think > it matters little what you personally believe in. Tolerance, > understanding of and respect for alternative views in a social group > like this is the key to sharing ideas and information in a productive > way. I am sure that many, if not most, butterflyindia members are > religious to some degree, but evolution has never been controversial > on this group. > > BTW, Ashwin, your email was thoughtful and detailed, as always. I have > been somewhat dormant on this group for a while because of my work. I > have finished a couple of papers on mimicry and population dynamics of > Western Ghats butterflies, and preparing to write some more, so am > very busy nowadays. I do quickly scan through all the emails, though, > and I will jump in whenever something of my interest happens. > > With best wishes, > > Krushnamegh. > ------------------------------------------------- > > Krushnamegh Kunte, PhD > > Post-doctoral Research Fellow > FAS Center for Systems Biology > Harvard University > 52 Oxford St > Northwest Lab Room 458.40-3 > Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. > > Ph: (617) 496-0078 > Cell: (512) 577-1370 > Fax: (617) 495-2196 > Email: [email protected] > Other emails: [email protected], [email protected] > > Personal website: http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~kunte/index.htm > <http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/%7Ekunte/index.htm> > Indian Foundation for Butterflies: http://ifoundbutterflies.org/ > Google profile: http://www.google.com/profiles/krushnamegh > ------------------------------------------------- > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > *From: *Pat <[email protected]> > *Reply-To: *butterflyindia <[email protected]> > *Date: *Mon, 3 Jan 2011 21:07:30 -0500 > *To: *butterflyindia <[email protected]> > *Subject: *Re: [ButterflyIndia] Re : Lets do something for Butterfly > India - Critique Part 1 > > > > > > > There have been times when someone has made a reference to the theory > of evolution, always in a positive light. I haven't said anything > because even though I disagree with evolution, discussions always seem > to turn out with animosity and hostility. > > So I'm mentioning it in passing. > > Any person who is at all familiar with butterflies should easily > develop a sense of the phenomenal engineering and design of a > consummate artist, who designed these wonderful flying flowers. There > is no way random destructive processes could have done it. > > That's my 2c worth. > > As I have mentioned, I have photos of Indian butterflies, but they > were all taken in captivity. I have asked if anyone wanted to see > these, but nobody responded, so I assume not. Since I don't live in > India, I can't capture them in the wild. Krushnamegh graciously > offered to identify any I don't know. So far, I have been able to > identify most. But I will take him up on his offer if I get one that > stumps me. > > People have graciously invited me to come visit. Unfortunately, that > kind of travel is expensive and beyond my budget. So I am just sitting > here enjoying everyone's photos. > > Happy New Year to everyone. > > Pat Goltz > Arizona > USA ------------------------------------ --- Follow http://twitter.com/DiversityIndia ---Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ButterflyIndia/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ButterflyIndia/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ -- Enjoy
