We can all be in the Matrix, or a brain in a vat. There is no conclusive way to prove we aren't. Therefore, in order to function, we have to make the one "presupposition" that has to be made, that there is a basic reality & that we share it. Then we can work from there.

I think you're missing the point, but,...ok.

Epigenetics does not invalidate natural selection as an explanatory mechanism, it simply elaborates on it. It's not an either / or question. Genes still evolve; and at any given time, in any given environment, some also are selectively [de]activated.

@mordant I agree that the basic ideas of the theory of evolution are intact, however, there is a lot more to the story than the simplistic mechanistic ideas we were taught in school. What causes those genes to be turned on and off? It can not be understood with natural selection.

@WilliamFleming Correct -- natural selection doesn't address gene expression. Also as phenomena, they exist in entirely different time frames.