# Trying to connect behavior to evolution **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 3, 2025, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-connect-behavior-to-evolution/1016566 "2025-04-03T13:02:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2025, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-connect-behavior-to-evolution/1016566/81 "2025-04-06T19:46:51Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > The blood levels of amino acids are in constant flux, muscles and organs breaking proteins down and building up continuously, amino acids used for energy too, new ones added in by the foods we eat. So, no. Not trying to disagree but what I read today stated that the barrier between the developing sperm and the blood is the tightest barrier in the human body. -I can go bach and see if I can find it if you like. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2025, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-connect-behavior-to-evolution/1016566/82 "2025-04-06T19:56:09Z")
The _purpose_ of blood is to deliver to cells the things that they need to live. A cell that is cut off from access to amino acids is a dead cell. Not resting, not pining for any fjords. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2025, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-connect-behavior-to-evolution/1016566/83 "2025-04-06T20:00:01Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > Just looking for another method for evolution besides natural selection. From the link I made that clearly was not read: > so none of these examples would be recognized by Lamarck as an instance of what he was talking about. What is going on is fascinating, but it is in a sense not that different from the standard genetic story: cells encode information for the development of the organism; this information is inherited, but can be altered by the environment; the alterations that are — by chance — adaptive are retained by natural selection, while the rest are eliminated from the population. This is pure Darwinian natural selection at work. Indeed, biologists have understood for some time now that the Darwinian theory is neutral with respect to the specific mechanisms of inheritance: natural selection works regardless of which underlying mechanisms generate the phenotype variation that is being selected, and regardless of how those same mechanisms assure that the pertinent information gets passed from one generation to the next. > > So, no, we don’t need Darwinism and Lamarckism, we just need Darwinism, to which the MS added a lot of mechanisms and theoretical understanding back in the 1920s-40s, and to which the EES is adding even more now. > > Skinner sees himself as nothing less than the proponent of a new theory of evolution, which he summarizes in a diagram (fig. 2 of his Aeon piece), and that he grandly refers to as the “Unified Theory of Evolution.” He seems blissfully unaware that [lots of people have already worked out a new theory](http://tinyurl.com/qhhf32y) — the EES — and that Lamarckism just doesn’t enter into it. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2025, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-connect-behavior-to-evolution/1016566/84 "2025-04-06T20:15:04Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > From the link I made that clearly was not read: I read most of it and it led me to some other things I started reading. I had never heard of Lamarch. But I did appreciate the link. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2025, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-connect-behavior-to-evolution/1016566/85 "2025-04-06T20:17:10Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > The _purpose_ of blood is to deliver to cells the things that they need to live. A cell that is cut off from access to amino acids is a dead cell. Not resting, not pining for any fjords. This is the point of my entire argument here. They are not cut off from the amino acids, only those comming from the blood. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2025, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-connect-behavior-to-evolution/1016566/86 "2025-04-06T20:22:59Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > They are not cut off from the amino acids, only those comming from the blood. Where do you think the amino acids used inside the testes come from? ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2025, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-connect-behavior-to-evolution/1016566/87 "2025-04-06T20:26:37Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > I had never heard of Lamarch. Uh, remember when on climate change discussions it was noted that you came in ignoring a lot of what was discussed before, ignoring the history and many of us pointing that you were following already identified disinformation in that subject, and grossly missing what basic science was reporting? > **[mr spock](https://imgflip.com/i/2uyk82)** > > An image tagged mr spock Well, ignoring what was lamarckism while trying to push what in essence is an idea Lamarck would be proud of is very underwhelming. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2025, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-connect-behavior-to-evolution/1016566/88 "2025-04-06T20:28:04Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Not resting, not pining for any fjords My testes were once, decades past, whining the back of a Ford. Does that count? ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2025, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-connect-behavior-to-evolution/1016566/89 "2025-04-06T20:52:18Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > Uh, remember when on climate change discussions it was noted that you came in ignoring a lot of what was discussed before, ignoring the history and many of us pointing that you were following already identified disinformation in that subject, and grossly missing what basic science was reporting? That was another thread where things were being twisted, questioning specific aspects of some form of logic is not denying. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2025, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-connect-behavior-to-evolution/1016566/90 "2025-04-06T20:57:00Z")
Just saying, telling us that you are ignoring a very important piece of the history of evolution **and natural selection** is noticing what you need to read about before coming with ideas that are only retreads of already explained subjects. not only reported by recent papers, but also explained hundreds of years ago. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2025, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-connect-behavior-to-evolution/1016566/91 "2025-04-06T20:57:38Z")
At least I have been able to narrow down the one point of contention we have. That would be the source of the amino acids. AI tells me the spinal fluid gets its amino acids from the brain, nervous system and some glands. That would make sense. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2025, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-connect-behavior-to-evolution/1016566/92 "2025-04-06T21:03:29Z")
You really shouldn’t be using AI for these questions – it’s just telling you what you want to hear. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2025, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-connect-behavior-to-evolution/1016566/93 "2025-04-06T21:05:43Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > AI tells me the spinal fluid gets its amino acids from the brain, nervous system and some glands. That would make sense. Uh [others noticed that the AI you relied on grabbed an answer that was wrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-honeybadger/810183/1123), adding another layer of wrongness. Besides better sources, you need to understand that AI is not reliable on many occasions. One has to check the source and use that on a cite, not the AI interpretation. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2025, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-connect-behavior-to-evolution/1016566/94 "2025-04-06T21:36:35Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > AI tells me the spinal fluid gets its amino acids from the brain, nervous system and some glands. That would make sense Not sure it would but it is incorrect. Amino acids get in and out across the blood brain barrier. They do not just passively diffuse though. There are active transport mechanisms that control which ones travel in which direction by how much. A similar process happens at the blood testis barrier. They are both fairly protected environments. And they are separated, you do understand that? One is the brain and spinal cord. The other in the scrotum. Each separate protected areas in which the entry and exit of amino acids are tightly controlled. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2025, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-connect-behavior-to-evolution/1016566/95 "2025-04-06T21:39:24Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > A similar process happens at the blood testis barrier. That is a good answer. I can accept that ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2025, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-connect-behavior-to-evolution/1016566/96 "2025-04-06T21:40:36Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > There are active transport mechanisms that control which ones travel in which direction by how much. And those active transport mechanisms are made out of amino acids! ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2025, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-connect-behavior-to-evolution/1016566/97 "2025-04-06T21:57:37Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > ! Thank you I wasn’t trying to be stubborn ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2025, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-connect-behavior-to-evolution/1016566/98 "2025-04-06T23:25:45Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > Just looking for another method for evolution besides natural selection. Here I was just suggesting a way that it might come from the brain. I guess not though. Serious question- Why are looking for another method? Before Darwin, there were competing ideas. Darwin’s descent with modification repeatedly passed various tests. Nobody knew by what exact mechanism it happened. But it verifiably happened. Watson and Crick discovered DNA. Scientists then knew the mechanism by which evolution worked. Why are you looking for something else? An example from my life- There were tiny fires and explosions in my kitchen. There had been a previous gas leak. They shut off the gas to the oven and it has not been turned back on. I thought it was another gas leak. Workers from the gas company came to my kitchen and could not find any leak. It had to be something else. So, I kept looking. I thought it might be a wiring problem. Firefighters inspected my kitchen thoroughly and said it was not a wiring problem. It had to be something else. So, I kept looking. By sheer luck, I saw one of the burst of fire very clearly. It was coming from the printer. A poster in the thread I had started had mentioned that powdered toner (as my printer used) was highly flammable. I unplugged the printer. There were no more bursts of flame or explosions. At that point, I had no reason to believe it was anything but the printer. So, I stopped looking. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2025, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-connect-behavior-to-evolution/1016566/99 "2025-04-06T23:43:48Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > Why are you looking for something else? Thats a good question, I remember your post on that. It was a very satisfying feeling when the answer finally came out and it left no room for doubt. I was obsessing over that thread. Most of the time I can satisfy my curiosity simply by looking things up on the internet. I had only found one link to something that seemed to be exactly what I was looking for and I was not allowed to read it if I was not registered with a university or research facility. I guess the best I can say about it was that it was an itch I had to scratch or it was not going away. I don’t really know why. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2025, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-connect-behavior-to-evolution/1016566/100 "2025-04-07T06:09:53Z")
Someone called me a dickhead once. It might have been twice. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-connect-behavior-to-evolution/1016566.md?page=4)