Vision and Evolution (A Critique of Dawkins)

[GrandizerII]

I don't see the problem personally. Back and forth alternating changes of varying degrees between two organs or two species work just as fine as long as this still allows for the organism(s) to be well adapted to the surrounding environment, and to survive and produce offspring that will inherit the combination and via time and chance have more refined combinations through successive generations.

My issue with back an forth alternating between changes, is that they seem to create holes where selection can't occur. For that to make sense we have to agree that selection can't work "off-line," that an adaptation has to have an effect on the world, and be affected by it, in order for selection have any preference for one variation over another and slowly shape it. 

In other words, and to move beyond the detection of direction. If cones spontaneously evolve from rods, before theres a system able to use them to perceive color, cones are basically off-line structures. They can't be selected for or against, when it comes to color detection, because there's nothing to have an effect on when it comes to color detection. 

So, it seems to me that for there to be a back-and-forth, without causing an adaptation to go off-line, is for there to be some kind of scaffolding in place than can maintain it or keep it in the game until the rest of the system can catch up.

I'll explain better later, cause I'm out of time, but hopefully you get the point I'm trying to make.

It seems to me like you're not taking into account that the eye or cone or rod or whatever is not existing in isolation from the whole organism itself. I'm not going to pretend I know all the specifics but theoretically, some traits may not be favorable for selection at all on their own, but when they're part of an organism that nevertheless has been enhanced in some other way in terms of adaptability, then the traits will carry over and be refined over time and successive generations. This is oversimplifying things but that's the gist of how this sometimes works.