Posted by Tom on October 11, 1999 at 17:01:31:
In Reply to: First, understand Darwin... posted by rpcman on October 11, 1999 at 14:26:45:
If the unused parts of the brain were vestigal, that would mean
they evolved while the were being used and we have subsequently lost the
use of those parts of our anatomy. That seems improbable, though I must admit it would
make a good premise for a science fiction novel. We're not talking about
an appendix here but the majority of the brain--the seat of scientific
reasoning. I can appreciate how birds can lose the use of their
wings through natural selection, but it seems hard to imagine our ancient
ancestors having so much brain power than ourselves.
I vaguely remember the peacock example. The only section of the Origin that I
can find that deals with peacock evolution is this:
"Those who have closely attended to birds in confinement well know that they often take individual
preferences and dislikes: thus Sir R. Heron has described how a pied
peacock was eminently attractive to all his hen birds. I cannot here enter
on the necessary details; but if man can in a short time give beauty and an
elegant carriage to his bantams, according to his standard of beauty, I can
see no good reason to doubt that female birds, by selecting, during
thousands of generations, the most melodious or beautiful males, according
to their standard of beauty, might produce a marked effect."
Is this the passage you meant, or is it elsewhere?