Re: OOP & Packages in Ada

[nospam@thanks.com.au (Don Harrison)]

Matthew Heaney wrote:

:In article <EnuAD7.217@syd.csa.com.au>, nospam@thanks.com.au wrote:
:
:>: ... (read Dawkins' The Blind Watchmaker, or
:>:D'Arcy Thompson's On Growth and Form, or anything by Stephen Jay Gould). 
:>
:>Better still, read Phillip Johnson's "Darwin on Trial" which refutes both. :)

BTW, "both" refers to Dawkins and Gould. I'm not familiar with Thompson's work.

:My point is that systems of any kind evolve, including large software
:systems...  

Yes, that's true of software systems. However, I'm referring to biological 
systems. It's an established fact that organisms can micromutate to accomodate 
changes in their environment. However, it's quite another thing to claim that 
changes in *species* can occur through:

  a) Accumulated micromutations (traditional Darwinism as espoused by Dawkins,
     for example), or
  b) Macromutations (Gould's theory of Punctuated Equilibrium)

through a process called "natural" selection.

Contrary to what many would like to think, neither of these theories have 
been proven.


:Yes, there is some religious dogma that repudiates evolution of living
:systems, ...

My reference is to Gould's book. If you read it, you'll discover that it isn't 
based on "religious dogma". Rather, in assessing the claims of Darwinism,
Johnson has stuck to factual evidence and avoided prior assumptions, including 
those based on religious belief. This is in stark contrast to Dawkins' and 
Gould's writings which reflect numerous unstated assumptions derived from the 
Darwinist belief system. 


:>Q: What's the definition of a "vestigal" organ?
:>A: One whose purpose isn't understood.

My point here is to take issue with your assumption of evolution of biological 
organs as implied by the word "vestigal".

:When you're done with Johnson book (I haven't read it yet), then sit down
:and read Evolution and the Myth of Creationism, by Tim M. Berra, and The
:Panda's Thumb, by Stephen Jay Gould.

I have finished "Darwin on Trial" and intend reading "Evolution: A Theory in
Crisis" by Michael Denton next. I've read parts of Dawkins' "Climbing Mount
Improbable" and Gould's "Ever Since Darwin". If I find the time, I'll take a 
look at Berra. 


Don.
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Don Harrison        doELIDEnh@syd.csa.com.au