"Now , I have no problem with the concept of epigenetic inheritance . But even if it were true it would n't do away with natural selection . Just as with basic genetic mutation , which is n't going to go away , one would expect some individuals to exhibit epigenetic alterations and others not to ."
"Well that 's true under one condition : that there is such thing as a random mutation that creates a new , beneficial body part or function . I 'm not sure this has ever been established as fact . ( How does science go about proving randomness in a mutation , anyway ? ... it seems to me that one must accept that mutations are random by faith . ) '' It is our contention that if Â ‘ randomÂ ’ is given a serious and crucial interpretation from a probabilistic point of view , the randomness postulate is highly implausible and that an adequate scientific theory of evolution must await the discovery and elucidation of new natural laws . '' Â— * Murray Eden , `` Inadequacies of Neo-Darwinian Evolution as Scientific Theory , `` in Mathematical Challenges to the Neo-Darwinian Theory of Evolution ( 1967 ) , p. 109 . This still means a population containing a range of variants that natural selection can act on , preserving some epigenetic alterations as opposed to others . but if the variation is nonrandom , it does n't matter : selection 's role , like I said above , would be doing nothing more than eliminating the weaklings . According to ToE , selection is a creative force of evolution , guiding the direction of evolution . Gould : The central logic of Darwinism requires that natural selection not merely operate , but that it be the creative force of evolutionary change . Selection wins its role as a creative force because the other component of evolutionary mechanics Â— the forces that produce the raw material of genetic variation Â— are random , in the special sense of Â “ not inherently directed toward adaptation.Â ” That is , if local environments change and smaller organisms are now at an advantage , genetic variation does not produce more small individuals , thus imparting a direction to evolutionary change from the level of variation itself . Variation continues to occurÂ “ at random , Â ” in a broad spectrum about the average size . Selection must impart direction Â— and be the creative force of evolution Â— by differentially preserving those random variants yielding smaller than average phenotypes ."
"I have no problem with the concept of epigenetic inheritance ."
"Well that 's true under one condition : that there is such thing as a random mutation that creates a new , beneficial body part or function"