This is all becoming very confusing to me. The Wiki page Doug has provided says that, “[The genetic drift] is now held to be one of the primary mechanisms of biological evolution.” And then there is the epigenetics (which makes it look as if Lamarck wasn’t so wrong after all), the group selection, the sexual selection,… I am done with this topic. I tell you, if you are not born with at least 150 IQ, you are better off being a Christian. ¡Mi cabeza va a explotar! 

Nah, George.  One just has to have a few things:  1) to have taken a course or two that dealt with the subject, 2) a damned good memory, and 3) the ability to make it up as one goes along. 

Oh, and one should also have a reservoir of catch phrases like “genetic drift” and “genetic bottleneck” to throw into the conversation.  No one quite knows what they mean so you can use them to bolster your argument, no matter what it is. 

Occam

George - 05 February 2008 10:06 AM

Well, the chimps are genetically closer to us than they are to gorillas, but their lifestyle resembles more closely the gorillas’ lifestyle than ours.

So what? That’s just counting chromosomes. One gene can make an enormous difference in behavior, capacity, etc. Depends what it “does.”

Well, yes. That’s the point I was trying to make.

BTW, “counting chromosomes” has nothing to do with any of this. Gorillas and chimps have both 48 chromosomes, and we have two less, 46.