Apropos the ‘hiatus’ post below it seems that one area where there is an apparent loosening of orthodoxy is evolution. On 24/3/2010 (see below) I posted the following:
‘In the UK’s Guardian newspaper of the 19th March 2010 Oliver Burkeman has a piece entitled ‘Why everything you’ve been told about evolution is wrong’. The article is in part based on a book by David Shenk called ‘The Genius in All of Us’. Research evidence is quoted which is claimed to show that genetic material, or at least the ‘switches’ which control the operation of genes, can be changed by life experiences and transmitted to offspring. An implication is that Lamarck might have had a good point after all.’
Now, an article by Helen Thomson, (Guardian 22/8/15) reports on research by Rachel Yehuda based on trauma relating to Holocaust survivors and their offspring. This, it is claimed, provides ‘the clearest sign yet that one person’s life experience can affect subsequent generations’. In a follow-up letter from Hugh Dowler it is suggested that the research shows ‘an example of Lamarckian inheritance which neo-Darwinists have vehemently denied for over a century’.
I’m not sure why the deniers are termed ‘neo’ Darwinists but it does seem that the concept of ‘the inheritance of acquired characteristics’ might have considerable basis in truth. It might be that with the development of more refined tools we find that we are all much more connected than we think, a notion which fits in very well with Alphomism.
Richard
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