Download or read book The Paradox of Evolution written by Stephen Rothman and published by Prometheus Books. This book was released on 2015 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "In [this book], psychologist Stephen Rothman exposes a major, through remarkably amost completely neglected problem with Darwin's theory of evolution. Its two essential elements, natural selection and reproduction, are in important respects contradictory. In considering their relationship, Rothman makes the revolutionary claim that the evolution of life's complex and diverse reproductive mechanisms is not the consequence of natural selection. In so doing, he exposes the deepest question possible about life's nature-- its reason for being. In meticulously detailed but accessible terms he lays out the crux of the paradox and offers an intriguing solution within a naturalistic framework. In an obstensibly purposeless universe, somehow purposeful life has evolved. For all living things there are two overarching purposes: survival and the creation of new life. Natural selection is about the survival of existing life but has no interest in life's future, whether it persists or perishes. By contrast, reproduction is only about the future of life and has no interest in existing life except as a means to an end. Where do these purposes come from? As Rothamn demonstrates, at every level life is wired to react to danger. Counterintuitively, without danger life would neithr have come into being nor evolved. In the same way, death drives the creation of new life and has propelled the evolution of the mechanisms of reproduction. Written with great clarity and informed by deep learning, this elegant, thoughtful work tackles some of the most challening questions raised by the theory of evolution."--Page [4] Cover.
Download or read book Natural Selection s Paradox written by Carter Stroud and published by Natural Selection's Paradox. This book was released on 2008-08-21 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An important addition to understanding natural selection, these essays redefine wealth and identify a sustainable spirituality using the perspectives of scientific research and historical wisdom.
Download or read book The Curiosity Paradox Part I written by Michael Barber and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2013-12 with total page 78 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dynamic Evolution offers a comprehensive challenge to the Darwinian premise that the diversity of life is explained solely by the natural selection and survival of the fittest. It will become apparent from a complete study of this work that the principle of the selection of strong functions / properties of life and living organisms, whilst providing a partial fit and a compelling argument, falls under the shadow of the complete picture provided by Dynamic Evolution. Just as a large multi-piece mosaic can appear quite beautiful and coherent, even when some of the pieces do not quite make the right fit (they "look almost right"; the emergent patterns can still be impressive and instructive), the picture they present seems to lack something. A comparison with the more accurate paradigm, with the pieces in elegant continuity exhibiting many contiguous patterns, becomes the preferred arrangement. This work endeavors to demonstrate that Dynamic Evolution, by virtue of the coercive argumentation used and the fecundity and uniformity of the inter-connected principles covered, provides a greater number of "correctly fitting pieces" of the proverbial mosaic. Indeed, the challenge that this work presents is for the reader to find pieces that cannot be made to fit, or to point out patterns that are inconsistent and can be demonstrated to have a better fit. If a small number of "patterns" are found to require a better fit, then modification of the theory is required. If a large number of patterns are found to require a better fit, then it may be time to abandon the theory. For many decades scientists have searched for the "theory of everything" (ToE), which would provide unifying principles and formulas to guide researchers, using existing or modified prevailing theories, toward a more accurate understanding of how the universe and, in particular, life arrived in its current state. This is often described as a consolidation of Einstein's theory of relativity with quantum mechanics. The principles and theories set out in this work have the noble objective of laying down the groundwork for the ToE. The principles explained in this work have been granted the descriptive name "dynamic" by virtue of the evidence presented in the progressive modules, and the nature of the evidence. This is contrasted with Darwinian Evolution which is seen to be a "passive" explanation to the evidentiary argumentation. For example, natural selection, by definition, requires that an organism or function is already present in order to be selected for survival. The Darwinian principles tend toward the strengthening of a function that is in competition with another function for the perpetuation of the organism. But there is less emphasis on the mechanisms that explain the development of the competing functions prior to selection; survival has been enhanced at the expense of arrival. This underscores the quiescence of the Darwinian model. Dynamic Evolution, on the other hand, deals with the processes that underlie the development of the function or organism. These processes are dealt with in detail and contrasted with parallel or similar developments that form a repeating pattern throughout the Dynamic model. Hence the term "passive" or "quiescent" is contrasted diametrically with "dynamic" or "active" in relation to the very processes that Darwin felt served to underpin his theory. The concepts covered by this work reference the scientific fields of physics, mathematics, astronomy, biology, anatomy, physiology, zoology, and cellular microbiology. Relevant studies in these fields are cross-referenced and contextualized for each of the arguments that are presented in the study of Dynamic Evolution. The advanced ideas proffered by this work demonstrate that Dynamic Evolution is the most convincing and attractive alternative to the theory of Darwinian Evolution to date.
Download or read book Natural Selections Large Print 16pt written by David P. Barash and published by ReadHowYouWant.com. This book was released on 2011-01-22 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: If we are, in part, a product of our genes, can free will exist? Incisive and engaging, this indispensable tour of evolutionary biology runs the gamut of contemporary debates, from science and religion to our place in the universe....
Download or read book Solving the Paradoxes of Evolution written by Sean Gould and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2014-10-12 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides a model of evolution, enhanced over the standard. In the standard, genes gain along a cellular pathway, but the molecular pathway, results from cellular change. This is not possible. Instead, from the start of life, cellular and molecular evolution each undergo natural selection. Today, molecular selection is about 10 million times slower than cellular change, but it is still there. The book provides and physical and mathematical basis of the changes. For many instances, of short-scale change within modern species, the cellular model is sufficient. However, for changes that involved transitions of one type of reproduction to a newer type, the extra pathways of molecular change must be added. Especially, changes such as first life, the chromosome, higher life, sexual reproduction, or how life evolved from prelife to life, cannot be solved by the standard model alone.The book offers insights into how large-scale change occurs, plus final observations on human evolution. A short summary outlines again the conclusions.
Download or read book The Paradoxical Brain written by Narinder Kapur and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2011-07-21 with total page 489 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Paradoxical Brain focuses on a range of phenomena in clinical and cognitive neuroscience that are counterintuitive and go against the grain of established thinking. The book covers a wide range of topics by leading researchers, including: • Superior performance after brain lesions or sensory loss • Return to normal function after a second brain lesion in neurological conditions • Paradoxical phenomena associated with human development • Examples where having one disease appears to prevent the occurrence of another disease • Situations where drugs with adverse effects on brain functioning may have beneficial effects in certain situations A better understanding of these interactions will lead to a better understanding of brain function and to the introduction of new therapeutic strategies. The book will be of interest to those working at the interface of brain and behaviour, including neuropsychologists, neurologists, psychiatrists and neuroscientists.
Download or read book Evolutionary Causation written by Tobias Uller and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2019-09-03 with total page 361 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A comprehensive treatment of the concept of causation in evolutionary biology that makes clear its central role in both historical and contemporary debates. Most scientific explanations are causal. This is certainly the case in evolutionary biology, which seeks to explain the diversity of life and the adaptive fit between organisms and their surroundings. The nature of causation in evolutionary biology, however, is contentious. How causation is understood shapes the structure of evolutionary theory, and historical and contemporary debates in evolutionary biology have revolved around the nature of causation. Despite its centrality, and differing views on the subject, the major conceptual issues regarding the nature of causation in evolutionary biology are rarely addressed. This volume fills the gap, bringing together biologists and philosophers to offer a comprehensive, interdisciplinary treatment of evolutionary causation. Contributors first address biological motivations for rethinking evolutionary causation, considering the ways in which development, extra-genetic inheritance, and niche construction challenge notions of cause and process in evolution, and describing how alternative representations of evolutionary causation can shed light on a range of evolutionary problems. Contributors then analyze evolutionary causation from a philosophical perspective, considering such topics as causal entanglement, the commingling of organism and environment, and the relationship between causation and information. Contributors John A. Baker, Lynn Chiu, David I. Dayan, Renée A. Duckworth, Marcus W Feldman, Susan A. Foster, Melissa A. Graham, Heikki Helanterä, Kevin N. Laland, Armin P. Moczek, John Odling-Smee, Jun Otsuka, Massimo Pigliucci, Arnaud Pocheville, Arlin Stoltzfus, Karola Stotz, Sonia E. Sultan, Christoph Thies, Tobias Uller, Denis M. Walsh, Richard A. Watson
Download or read book Nietzsche s New Darwinism written by John Richardson and published by Oxford University Press on Demand. This book was released on 2004-10-14 with total page 301 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nietzsche wrote in a scientific culture transformed by Darwin, yet most of what he said about Darwin was hostile. In this text, John Richardson argues that Nietzsche was in fact deeply and pervasively influenced by Darwin.
Download or read book Empirical Paradox Complexity Thinking and Generating New Kinds of Knowledge written by Paolo Grigolini and published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. This book was released on 2019-06-05 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Is another world war inevitable? The answer is a resounding “yes” if we continue to think in terms of “either/or” outcomes. Adversaries think in such terms, you either get what you want, or you do not. Can a different way of thinking produce a different outcome? This book shows that the consistency demanded by the linear, logical either/or thinking is disrupted by paradox, whose resolution forces a consequent decision: war or peace, with no middle ground. If this were the only way of thinking then a person would be either a protagonist or an antagonist, but a person can be both, either, or neither; this opens the door to novel solutions. This is “both/and” thinking, which the book shows can be achieved by a dynamic resolution of paradox. Thus, a basically selfish individual can also be a hero; a consequence of the complexity of being human.
Download or read book Natural Selections written by Alan Andrew MacEachern and published by McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP. This book was released on 2001 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During the Depression the Canadian National Parks Branch was under pressure to make the park system truly national, to bring the advantages of parks to all provinces. In Atlantic Canada, however, it found itself dealing with an environment that was far different from what it was accustomed to in Western Canada. The land areas were smaller, flatter, and, having been settled for generations, could hardly be considered wild. Wildlife was smaller and less numerous.
Download or read book Management and the Sustainability Paradox written by David M. Wasieleski and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-07-12 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Management and the Sustainability Paradox is about how humans became disconnected from their ecological environment throughout evolutionary history. Begining with the premise that people have competing innate, natural drives linked to survival. Survival can be thought of in the context of long-term genetic propagation of a species, but at the same time, it involves overcoming of immediate adversities. Due to a diverse set of survival challenges facing our ancestors, natural selection often favored short-term solutions, which by consequence, muted the motivations associated with longer-range sustainability values. Managerial decisions and choices mostly adopt a moral calculus of costs versus benefits. Managers invoke economic and corporate growth to justify virtually any action. It is this moral calculus underlying corporate behavior that needs critical examination and reformation. At the heart of it lie deep moral questions that we examine in this book, with the goal of proposing ethical solutions to the paradox. Management and the Sustainability Paradox examines the issue that there appears to be an inherent paradox between what some businesses view as "a need for progress" and " a concern for sustainability". In business, we often see a collision between ideas of progress and sustainability which shapes corporate actions, and managerial decisions. Typical corporate views of progress involve the creation of wealth, jobs, innovative products, and social philanthropic projects. On the basis of these "progressive" actions they justify their inequitable distribution of surpluses by paying low wages and exploiting ecological resources. It is not difficult to see the antagonistic interplay between technological and social innovation with our values for social and environmental well-being and a dualism that needs to be overcome. This book is intended for a broad appeal to an academic and policy maker audience in the sustainability and management fields. The book will be of vital reading for managers seeking to reconnect our human chain with the natural environment in the cause of sustainable business.
Download or read book The Oxford Handbook of Organizational Paradox written by Wendy K. Smith and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2017-09-07 with total page 528 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The notion of paradox dates back to ancient philosophy, yet only recently have scholars started to explore this idea in organizational phenomena. Two decades ago, a handful of provocative theorists urged researchers to take seriously the study of paradox, and thereby deepen our understanding of plurality, tensions, and contradictions in organizational life. Studies of organizational paradox have grown exponentially over the past two decades, canvassing varied phenomena, methods, and levels of analysis. These studies have explored such tensions as today and tomorrow, global integration and local distinctions, collaboration and competition, self and others, mission and markets. Yet even with both the depth and breadth of interest in organizational paradoxes, key issues around definitions and application remain. This handbook seeks to aid, engage, and fuel the expanding interest in organizational paradox. Contributions to this volume depict how paradox studies inform, and are informed, by other theoretical perspectives, while creating a resource that enables scholars to learn about and apply this lens across varied organizational phenomena. The increasing complexity, volatility, and ambiguity in our world continually surfaces paradoxical dynamics. Thus, this handbook offers insights to scholars across organizational theory.
Download or read book The Paradox of Being written by Poul Andersen and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2021-03-01 with total page 370 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The question of truth has never been more urgent than today, when the distortion of facts and the imposition of pseudo-realities in the service of the powerful have become the order of the day. In The Paradox of Being Poul Andersen addresses the concept of truth in Chinese Daoist philosophy and ritual. His approach is unapologetically universalist, and the book may be read as a call for a new way of studying Chinese culture, one that does not shy away from approaching “the other” in terms of an engagement with “our own” philosophical heritage. The basic Chinese word for truth is zhen, which means both true and real, and it bypasses the separation of the two ideas insisted on in much of the Western philosophical tradition. Through wide-ranging research into Daoist ritual, both in history and as it survives in the present day, Andersen shows that the concept of true reality that informs this tradition posits being as a paradox anchored in the inexistent Way (Dao). The preferred way of life suggested by this insight consists in seeking to be an exception to ordinary norms and rules of behavior which nonetheless engages what is common to us all.
Download or read book The Paradox of Choice written by Barry Schwartz and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2009-10-13 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Whether we're buying a pair of jeans, ordering a cup of coffee, selecting a long-distance carrier, applying to college, choosing a doctor, or setting up a 401(k), everyday decisions—both big and small—have become increasingly complex due to the overwhelming abundance of choice with which we are presented. As Americans, we assume that more choice means better options and greater satisfaction. But beware of excessive choice: choice overload can make you question the decisions you make before you even make them, it can set you up for unrealistically high expectations, and it can make you blame yourself for any and all failures. In the long run, this can lead to decision-making paralysis, anxiety, and perpetual stress. And, in a culture that tells us that there is no excuse for falling short of perfection when your options are limitless, too much choice can lead to clinical depression. In The Paradox of Choice, Barry Schwartz explains at what point choice—the hallmark of individual freedom and self-determination that we so cherish—becomes detrimental to our psychological and emotional well-being. In accessible, engaging, and anecdotal prose, Schwartz shows how the dramatic explosion in choice—from the mundane to the profound challenges of balancing career, family, and individual needs—has paradoxically become a problem instead of a solution. Schwartz also shows how our obsession with choice encourages us to seek that which makes us feel worse. By synthesizing current research in the social sciences, Schwartz makes the counter intuitive case that eliminating choices can greatly reduce the stress, anxiety, and busyness of our lives. He offers eleven practical steps on how to limit choices to a manageable number, have the discipline to focus on those that are important and ignore the rest, and ultimately derive greater satisfaction from the choices you have to make.
Download or read book The Masterpiece of Nature written by Graham Bell and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2019-11-28 with total page 470 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Originally published in 1982, The Masterpiece of Nature examines sex as representative of the most important challenge to the modern theory of evolution. The book suggests that sex evolved, not as the result of normal Darwinian processes of natural selection, but through competition between populations or species - a hypothesis elsewhere almost universally discredited. The book also discusses the nature of sex and its consequences for the individual and for the population, as well as various other theories of sex. Since the value of these theories is held to reside wholly in their ability to predict the patterns of sexuality observed in nature, the book seeks to provide an extensive review of the circumstances in which sexuality is attenuated or lost throughout the animal kingdom, and these facts are then used to weigh up the merits of the rival theories. This book will be of interest to researchers in the area of genetics, ecology and evolutionary biology.
Download or read book The Princeton Guide to Evolution written by David A. Baum and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2013-11-04 with total page 888 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Princeton Guide to Evolution is a comprehensive, concise, and authoritative reference to the major subjects and key concepts in evolutionary biology, from genes to mass extinctions. Edited by a distinguished team of evolutionary biologists, with contributions from leading researchers, the guide contains some 100 clear, accurate, and up-to-date articles on the most important topics in seven major areas: phylogenetics and the history of life; selection and adaptation; evolutionary processes; genes, genomes, and phenotypes; speciation and macroevolution; evolution of behavior, society, and humans; and evolution and modern society. Complete with more than 100 illustrations (including eight pages in color), glossaries of key terms, suggestions for further reading on each topic, and an index, this is an essential volume for undergraduate and graduate students, scientists in related fields, and anyone else with a serious interest in evolution. Explains key topics in some 100 concise and authoritative articles written by a team of leading evolutionary biologists Contains more than 100 illustrations, including eight pages in color Each article includes an outline, glossary, bibliography, and cross-references Covers phylogenetics and the history of life; selection and adaptation; evolutionary processes; genes, genomes, and phenotypes; speciation and macroevolution; evolution of behavior, society, and humans; and evolution and modern society
Download or read book Paradoxes in Scientific Inference written by Mark Chang and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2012-10-15 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Paradoxes are poems of science and philosophy that collectively allow us to address broad multidisciplinary issues within a microcosm. A true paradox is a source of creativity and a concise expression that delivers a profound idea and provokes a wild and endless imagination. The study of paradoxes leads to ultimate clarity and, at the same time, in
