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Salient. Victoria University Student Newspaper. Volume 33 No. 11. 22 July 1970

Random Mutations

Random Mutations

My third R is [unclear: randomness.] is considered to be [unclear: no] mutations preserved by [unclear: rati] evolution nothing but [unclear: rando] reinforcement. To quote [unclear: fr] leading evolutionist: "It [unclear: i] problem of evolution is [unclear: ess] turns out to be basically [unclear: t] sign of purpose. . . . [unclear: Ma] purposeless and [unclear: materialist] paraphrase Einstein, a [unclear: non-] blind dice with the [unclear: univ] casuality, the solid rock [unclear: on] was built, has been [unclear: repla] of statistics. We all seem [unclear: to] which the [unclear: physicist] movement"—the erratic [unclear: z] particle of smoke [unclear: buffe] molecules of the [unclear: surroundin]

Some schools of modern [unclear: an] the cult of randomness. [unclear: A] at random fistfuls of [unclear: pai] French sulptor achieved [unclear: in] bashing old motor-[unclear: cars] machine into random [unclear: shap] bits of scrap iron into [unclear: absti] bits of fluff and tinsel composers of electronic [unclear: mi] machines for their [unclear: effect] novelist boasts of cutting [unclear: u] a pair of scissors, and stick in random fashion.

These schools of [unclear: contemp] derive their inspiration [unclear: from] in the sciences of life-[unclear: a] infection. Randomness, [unclear: we] fact of life. We live in [unclear: a] with hard facts, and [unclear: there] purpose, values or [unclear: meaning] and meaning is considered [unclear: a] be for an astronomer [unclear: to] telescope for Dante's [unclear: heave] would be equally [unclear: absurd] microscope for that [unclear: ghost] conscious mind, with its [unclear: g] free choice and moral [unclear: respo]

Let us remind ourselves [unclear: o] essence of teaching is not [unclear: is] which it conveys, but in [unclear: the] it transmits in explicit [unclear: or] terms of modern [unclear: commun] bulk of the [unclear: informal] interpretations. That is the [unclear: o] the data provide only [unclear: the] recurrent, embittered [unclear: co] history of science prove [unclear: o] that the same data [unclear: can] different ways and [unclear: reshuf] patterns. A minute ago, I [unclear: qu] biologist of the orthodox [unclear: ne] Let me now quote [unclear: anothe] C.H. Waddington, who, [unclear: bas] page 11 same available data, arrives at the opposite view: "To suppose that the evolution of the wonderfully adapted biological mechanisms has depended only on a selection out of a haphazard set of variations, each produced by blind chance, is like suggesting that if we went on throwing bricks into heaps, we should eventually be able to choose ourselves the most desirable house".