Guy Hoelzer  wrote:

> in article bg1tic$rp3$1{at}darwin.ediacara.org, Jim McGinn at
> jimmcginn{at}yahoo.com wrote on 7/27/03 6:17 PM:
> 
> > Guy Hoelzer  wrote
> > 
> > 
> > 
> >> Finite samples of variable populations, such as all
> >> real populations, tend to have different proportions
> >> than the source population.
> > 
> > Agreed.  (Have I ever disputed this?)
> > 
> >> This is, of course, what we mean by the process of
> >> genetic drift.
> > 
> > Now explain how this is, supposedly, distinct from
> > the process of NS.  (Or are you arguing that since you
> > mean it to be GD that, therefore, it's not NS?)
> 
> As I have written on sbe before (I don't recall which thread) my view on the
> logical relationship between drift and selection has been modified over the
> past few years.  While you argue that drift is part of (a subset of?)
> selection, I argue exactly the opposite.  Natural selection is a subset of
> drift.  Therefore, I do not claim that they are mutually exclusive
> processes.  Drift operates all of the time, while selection kicks in
> sporadically (I have always maintained this position).  Natural selection
> occurs only when there is a bias is introduced to the proportional changes
> influenced by the functional relationship between the organism (focusing on
> selection at the organism level) and its environment.
> 
> In other words, "this process" is genetic drift and is not
sufficient to
> describe the process of natural selection.
> 
> Guy

Guy, I know Tim Lewens and a collaborator have argued this, and have
seen others do so in the flesh, but I haven't seen publications making
this claim. Have you? I agree with it, by the way - selection is a
biased form of sampling, drift is unbiased sampling. Both are
stochastic, but selection is restricted.
-- 
John Wilkins
"And this is a damnable doctrine" - Charles Darwin, Autobiography
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