Lee Spetner: The Evolution Revolution

A New (and Much Better) Way of Doing Science

I just received my copy of Lee Spetner’s new book, The Evolution Revolution which follows his earlier Not By Chance! In these books Spetner lays out a new theory of origins, a new way of looking at biology, and really a new way of doing science, at least in the life sciences. I couldn’t agree more with his approach. Spetner’s overarching point is not that evolution does not occur, but that it is very different from how we normally understand that word. Spetner’s new approach—which he calls the nonrandom evolutionary hypothesis (NREH)—is data driven. NREH is an empirical idea, based on observations, not a rationalist idea based on a priori axioms. Mutations are effective, not random; evolution is directed to the need, not undirected; evolution occurs rapidly not slowly; and evolution occurs at the level of the individual, not at the population level. All of this points to the conclusion that evolution, like physiological responses, is a built-in capability, not a default, external process. And as Spetner points out, as research increases, the case for NREH is just getting stronger:

When I proposed my nonrandom evolutionary hypothesis (NREH) about fifteen years ago in my book Not By Chance!, the suggestion—that environmental inputs could affect the genome, leading to the possibility that an organism can change its physiology and behavior in response to an external input—was somewhat sketchy. A distinguishing feature of a good theory is that evidence for it grows after it has been formulated. Since I suggested the NREH, the following discoveries have been made that provide a solid mechanism for it, showing how organisms can show an adaptive heritable response to environmental inputs: … [63]

Bravo for Lee Spetner. Let’s bring science back to its rightful role of figuring out how nature works rather than promoting religious dogma. Rather than battle with new findings as evolution is forced to do, Spetner shows us how we can make progress with science, advancing with new findings rather than adding new epicycles with each new study.