Hello Ted and all:
I have put it this way: Organisms do what they can when they can, where
they can. Virtually no one has refuted it, and virtually no one has
affirmed it. I even tried to rattle some cages by saying that it was a Law
(or at least an axiom) of biology/ecology; still no
I used to remind students of Davy Crockett's maxim, Be sure you're right, then
go ahead. I would follow that with, in science we go with, Be 95% sure
you're right, then go ahead. But then I'd remind them that a collective of
95% sure decisions adds up to dead certain. Whenever I was
Food for thought (hope it's not too simplified for this listserv):
I was taught, and I teach my students, that biologists, ecologists
included, DO NOT work within the realm of PROOFS (as mathematicians
do). Rather we work within the realm of PROBABILITIES. I do not allow
my students to
The statement below is why we still have a general public that doesn't
accept evolution as fact, or global climate change, or, that invasive
species harm ecosystems. Certainly what the author says is technically
correct, but in reality what is the difference between a probability of
occurrence of
