Joanne Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hi Pete,
>
> We may be going from biology into philosophy here,
> but isn't the awareness of the cause dependant on
> the view one takes? IOW, if African violets
> experience a mutation that affects leaf pigment
> due to radiation (which happened), we tend to
> think of it as the radiation causing the mutation.
> However, if the mutation is a response to the
> environmental change (higher radiation), the
> pigment change could be seen as an adaption.
> *looks around and ducks*


Hi Joanne,

Pete already covered most of what I would have responded to your posts so I will not be redundant. In your example, I think the problem (as you say below) is a definitional problem. Both cases are the same. The problem is that "adaptation" carries a connotation that somehow the mutation is going to be beneficial-- but in fact, most mutations are not beneficial.
>
> In the case of exposure to viruses in particular,
> how we can be sure which is the cause and which is
> the response?
>
> The trouble with many of these Internet
> discussions is lack of definition of terms...it's
> not just in threads dealing with genetics or
> evolution.

That is what I'm attempting to do with my posts in "genetics" but then what is needed is for people to read them. Also after a while, if the discussion gets too technical or too far from the original topic the discussion and questions should really go to talk.origins where the real geneticists live. :-)

Bernard
It's anthropology, linguistics, etc.,
> etc. It probably would be a good idea if there was
> an on-site glossary with some basic terms defined
> that people could refer to as needed.
>
> Joanne