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Carpal Tunnel
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I learned a new word today: "exaptation". It was apparently coined by S.J. Gould in 1991, and is widely used in science:. "The utilization of a structure or feature for a function other than that for which it was
developed through natural selection. ex- + (ad)aptation.ex·apted..."
I found many sites about it on Internet. It might be fun to think of ways to use it. Some of the biology uses we all know. Perhaps there others we could think of.
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Joined: Apr 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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why, we have forums right here at AWADtalk that have been exapted for uses other than those for which they were intended; to wit: AWAD in schools, Animal Safari, Loanwords in German... 8)
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Carpal Tunnel
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Dear tsuwm: would you accept the practice of using a big book as a door-stop an "exaptation"?
Most of the biology uses relate to some new and important ability.
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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My Newfie has exaptated himself into a lap dog.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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>exaptated
bzzzzzzzt. this way lies adaptated! (and orientated)
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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orientated[BRISTLE !] GRR!!! Holy cow, Dr. Bill--here's a sentence and a half, from one of the Google sites: Indeed, the chief human evolution adaptation of increasing brain size was to provide humans with the neurological room for neural plasticity based exaptation to create novel learnt functions; first linked to dexterity, language and other hunter-gatherer transmitted skills, later in the human career for modern symbolic cognitions dependent upon notation and complex urban societies such as reading.Shanks, where are you?  Here's what I was looking for--an example: For example, the bones of vertebrates (ancestrally for mineral storage) were exapted into locomotory structures by the ancestral sarcopterygians.Apparently, there are both physical and mental exaptations. Oh, I just thought of one: when a part of the brain is injured or removed, sometimes what is left can take over new functions, expecially in young children. Thanks, Dr. Bill.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Keep it up, Max, and I'll 'orientate' you, sir! 
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veteran
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veteran
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a function other than that for which it was
developed through natural selection.
A next generation CAT-scan device developed for medical purposes is now widely used in industry to scan manufactured goods of all kinds. Would you say this medical device has been "exapted" for industrial purposes, wwh? Many new inventions are modelled on designs that occur in nature. Velcro (modelled on the burrs that cling to hikers) is the leading example. Would you say these designs have been "exapted" by entrepreneurs to create new products? Or am I misusing the word "exapted" with these examples? When scientists start tinkering with strands of a patient's DNA to overcome a genetic defect which might lead one day to an illness, would that be an example of "reverse exaption", wwh?
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Duct tape? Over 2,000,000 exaptations and still going strong. Great for hemming a skirt in a pinch... Much better than a stapler.
Thanks for this word, wwh! It explains my life!
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