[ltr]Evolution, as we understand it today, requires the addition of new Genetic information to turn one species into a completely separate, newer, more fit species. However, it lacks the ability to do what its supporters swear it does: random changes to the genetic code cause disease and death, they do not make for healthier creatures. Randomly changing code in computer software quickly makes it non-functional. Tweaking code to make it better always involves a guiding intelligence which has a specific goal in mind. [/ltr]
[ltr]Those creatures who experience Genetic Drift never “evolve,” they simply express the wondrous variety and flexibility which already exists within their genes. Nothing new is added to the Genetic Information already contained within the animal in question, although very often genetic information is lost. Ring Species, where a single race of bird or squirrel become separated by a river valley or a mountain range, often suffer from genetic loss which can make them incapable of interbreeding when they meet back up hundreds of generations later. Neither side will have gained any new genetic information, so neither can be said to have evolved.[/ltr]
[ltr]Think of it as a color. Blue is available in all manner of shades and depths: Azure, pale, pastel, robin's egg, powder, sky, dark... But Blue can never become Green or Red, no matter how you tweak it. It cannot even become Violet or Aqua without adding some Red or Green, because those colors do not exist within Blue.[/ltr]
[ltr]Genetic Drift is the same thing; if you do not insert additional information, the animal will always and only be a separate Race of it's particular Species. Man is quite flexible that way, so we have a gorgeous collection of distinct Races, all of which are still very much Man. Dogs even more so; every dog on the planet is actually just a separate breed of wolf. Being a bit more complex than birds or squirrels thankfully, all dogs can still interbreed with wolves and other dogs. Sheep, Chickens, Rabbits, Horses, Cows... Man has been intelligently guiding their looks and shapes for thousands of years. They are all still sheep, chickens, rabbits, horses and cows, and there is zero genetic possibility any of them will ever become anything else. [/ltr]
[ltr]The structure of the DNA molecule contains a code which makes it a flexible mapping between codons and amino acids. This flexibility allows modifying the code artificially, but once fixed, the code might stay unchanged over cosmological timescales; in fact, it is the most durable information storage construct known. Innumerable self checks and quality control points involved in the replication process make it almost impervious to the mutations that Evolution insists makes new information happen. In fact, there is zero recorded observation of a single natural mutation EVER adding new, viable, improved information to any creature known.[/ltr]
[ltr]Those creatures who experience Genetic Drift never “evolve,” they simply express the wondrous variety and flexibility which already exists within their genes. Nothing new is added to the Genetic Information already contained within the animal in question, although very often genetic information is lost. Ring Species, where a single race of bird or squirrel become separated by a river valley or a mountain range, often suffer from genetic loss which can make them incapable of interbreeding when they meet back up hundreds of generations later. Neither side will have gained any new genetic information, so neither can be said to have evolved.[/ltr]
[ltr]Think of it as a color. Blue is available in all manner of shades and depths: Azure, pale, pastel, robin's egg, powder, sky, dark... But Blue can never become Green or Red, no matter how you tweak it. It cannot even become Violet or Aqua without adding some Red or Green, because those colors do not exist within Blue.[/ltr]
[ltr]Genetic Drift is the same thing; if you do not insert additional information, the animal will always and only be a separate Race of it's particular Species. Man is quite flexible that way, so we have a gorgeous collection of distinct Races, all of which are still very much Man. Dogs even more so; every dog on the planet is actually just a separate breed of wolf. Being a bit more complex than birds or squirrels thankfully, all dogs can still interbreed with wolves and other dogs. Sheep, Chickens, Rabbits, Horses, Cows... Man has been intelligently guiding their looks and shapes for thousands of years. They are all still sheep, chickens, rabbits, horses and cows, and there is zero genetic possibility any of them will ever become anything else. [/ltr]
[ltr]The structure of the DNA molecule contains a code which makes it a flexible mapping between codons and amino acids. This flexibility allows modifying the code artificially, but once fixed, the code might stay unchanged over cosmological timescales; in fact, it is the most durable information storage construct known. Innumerable self checks and quality control points involved in the replication process make it almost impervious to the mutations that Evolution insists makes new information happen. In fact, there is zero recorded observation of a single natural mutation EVER adding new, viable, improved information to any creature known.[/ltr]
