Every once in a while we decide we need to make an episode that can serve as an "entry point" for new listeners, and also to talk about our current state of mind and ideas on all the topics we discuss, and how they're connected.
We first tried this in Episode 82, at the request of a listener. It was a good idea, and we now think we ought to do it every so often, to talk about these subjects broadly, and to work out where we stand now.
So this episode is a rambling, free-form conversation that hopefully can serve as an overview of some of the topics we explore on this podcast, and a bit about why we explore them.
4 stars, not enough laughing
ReplyDeleteNo, really,at least 6, maybe 7. It was great, and appropriate for what I have been doing. Which I will not tell you about just yet...
Hunnibunnies i love you So much...! But... The capital of Norway is OSLO not olso...
ReplyDeleteKeep up the great work, i'm only still alive because of the brain expansion i owe you guys. I am working through the archive since a few months and have already bought almost all of the books you're discussing. I love you, always will, keep your engagement and interestet in all your great topics and SNAKES!
Kisses from germany
Ellen
Dang it! I was reviewing the show this morning and I thought to myself “is it OSLO?? …no, I can’t be that dyslexic…” Alas! I pulled up the story and there it was, obviously OSLO, not Olso. So yes, I am that dyslexic. Saw it as Olso every time it appeared in the article, lol.
DeleteDear Herr DoktorPerfesserInspektor, If Dyselxic you vas, "Alsa!" might you have excalmed.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletePushing things to the extreme, your return to the "Rabbit hole Rabbit hole" brings us closer to the stark risk of being dragged inexorably into the Veterinary Medical Crisis of a >>> Lagomorphic Proctologic Singularity <<<
ReplyDeleteThank you for the ELECTRIFYING discussion of the profound quandaries we see as we look deeper into how Darwinian evolution could account for speciation. I’ve heard these arguments decades past from a medical doctor, who pointed out (1) that mutations to DNA can be passed on to offspring ONLY if they occur in the gonadal tissue of one parent or the other; (2) Most mutations — caused, let’s remember, by disruption/re-arrangement of the base-pairs in a DNA sequence by disease, foreign chemical radicals, or near impingement of ionizing radiation wave or particle –– are either fatal to the developing embryo, or at best benign; only a minute fraction confer ANY actual competitive advantage to the individual, which can ONLY become a feature of other breeders if the embryo survives to breed and its offspring ALSO SURVIVE TO BREED.
ReplyDeleteThat’s a Hell of a stack of Linked expectations to pile onto a single disrupted base-pair, or even a thousand re-arranged base-pairs, even assuming none of them poison or disrupt embryonic development, or hinder a surviving juvenile’s maturation to breeding age so as to maybe possibly might be hopefully create a few surviving offspring to begin spreading those mutations around, so they can maybe possibly might sorta possibly confer some competitive advantage on a BUNCH of future generations.
This is NOT an argument between Christian fundamentalists and Enlightened Scientists. It is a conflict between a logically appealing but naïve THEORY and the relentless realities of how DNA and “Genes” actually perform their functions in living Eukaryotes and more complex critters.