Spandrels

• Information on an evolutionary perspective on transvestism? by Dr Brian Robinson, 4/12/97
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    • Further thought on Transvestism by Dr Brian Robinson, 5/26/97
      
      

Your compatriot, Brian Goodwin, wrote a nifty paperback on "excitable fields" at the molecular, tissue, organ, and organismic levels (Goodwin B (1994) How the Leopard Changed Its Spots: The Evolution of Complexity, NY: Simon & Schuster). Simply, every growth process elicits opposing inhibitory ones. (As TH Huxley remarked, "How terribly stupid not to have thought of that!") These excitable fields show regular oscillations in the behavior of groups of cells, chemicals, or people. You can also see it in metropolitan development and in the growth of theories.

EvolPsych has its active nodes that shift with the decade and the topic. Stephen Gould & Richard Lewontin gave a paper to the Royal Society in '79 entitled "The Spandrels of San Marco and the Panglossian Paradigm: A Critique of the Adaptationist Programme." (It's been reprinted in one of Gould's books.) Gould and Lewontin, thus, are one node in evolutionary thinking. They were/are harsh on us zealots who speculate freely about adaptations with little supporting evidence that what we're observing is actually an adaptation.

A Spandrel (and I don't know if Gould knew the word or is handy with his thesaurus) is an architectural feature, defined by an arch and the horizontal beam supported by the arch. The spandrel is that triangular area between the arch, the beam, and the upward extension of the supporting column. Spandrels are a construction by-product; they don't seem to do much except block airflow and they are a handy place to put paintings and statues of saints and angels.

Gould and Lewontin argue that there are likely spandrels in evolution; we have some features that have no adaptive function but are a consequence of other adaptations. Transvestism appears to qualify because it doesn't lead directly to increased reproduction.

People who like to describe adaptations are sometimes labeled "adaptationists" and their combined efforts are considered an "adaptationist program." In the most extreme form, if a feature exists, it exists for a reason that's tied to survival.

There are a lot of active nodes on the topic of adaptations. George Williams (1966, Adaptations and Natural Selection; Princeton NJ: Princeton Univ Press) is another. Williams suggested rules for us adaptationists to observe so we don't get carried away with our imaginings.

We all need each other; it's a little confusing until you're used to the party.

• Noodle Node by Ed Riemann BS MSW LCSW, 6/26/97
  • Welcome: I was worried by James Brody, 6/28/97