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If I am reading that page of their material correctly, the M of VP is  
addressing 'chance' _at the genetic level_ as being only part of the  
story of how 'evolution happens'.

Descent through modification operates at the level of population  
groups. At that level, 'selection' is also chance- and  
coincident-driven.

But epistemologically speaking (the human consciousness issue at hand)  
chance versus plan does seem to be the Big Issue.

-Kevin



On Jun 10, 2005, at 10:53 AM, Susan Timberlake wrote:

> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology  
> Centers
> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related  
> institutions.
> *********************************************************************** 
> ******
>
> From Berkeley's wonderful "Understanding Evolution" site  
> <http://evolution.berkeley.edu/>
>
> "Misconception: “Evolution means that life changed ‘by chance.’ ”
> Response: Chance is certainly a factor in evolution, but there are  
> also non-random evolutionary mechanisms. Random mutation is the  
> ultimate source of genetic variation, however natural selection, the  
> process by which some variants survive and others do not, is not  
> random.... To say that evolution happens “by chance” ignores half of  
> the picture."
>                           # # # #

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