Xref: utzoo sci.skeptic:4012 sci.bio:3171 Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!wuarchive!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!usc!ucla-cs!oahu.cs.ucla.edu!frazier From: frazier@oahu.cs.ucla.edu (Greg Frazier) Newsgroups: sci.skeptic,sci.bio Subject: Re: Question about Rupert Sheldrake Message-ID: <36514@shemp.CS.UCLA.EDU> Date: 26 Jun 90 17:13:35 GMT References: <18066@ttidca.TTI.COM> Sender: news@CS.UCLA.EDU Organization: UCLA Computer Science Department Lines: 31 In article truesdel@sun418.nas.nasa.gov (David A. Truesdell) writes: +jackson@ttidca.TTI.COM (Dick Jackson) writes: +>Dogs are social animals too, but as someone said, they have been hopeless +>mucked up by ours truly. Consider wolves however, although I have not done +>the proposed objective study, it seems clear to me that within a wolf type +>individuals are very much alike (same hair color, eye color, etc). + +You seem to be changing the subject here willy-nilly. First, you attribute the +variations among the various types of dogs, to human meddling. Then you turn +around and claim that "within a wolf type individuals are very much alike". +Why not compare the variations of a single "dog type" (say dobermans) to +a single "wolf type", instead. Or, the variations across all dog types to the +variations across all wolf types. If you're going to make statements like this +at least be consistent. (Or would that weaken your argument.) His argument gets even weaker when you consider that many taxonomists currently consider wolves and dogs to be the same specie, and that wolves themselves have an incredible degree of variation and specialization. In addition to varying hair color, eye color, size, shape, etc., wolves also display behavior specialization as in tracker, leader, etc. This info is mostly from a recent article in "The Atlantic" (I know, a major journal in the biological sciences!), but even I, having seen very few wolves in my lifetime, know that there is a lot of variety w/in particular species. -- "They thought to use and shame me but I win out by nature, because a true freak cannot be made. A true freak must be born." K. Dunn, _Geek_Love_ Greg Frazier frazier@CS.UCLA.EDU !{ucbvax,rutgers}!ucla-cs!frazier