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Lobster, on Jun 16 2007, 12:54 PM, said:
That's not necessarily true either, as not all species evolve to higher complexity. It's a somewhat human-centric, and perhaps animalia-centric, way of looking at evolution. Evolution isn't a teleology; it does not work for complexity or "advancement," it's a phenomenon that results from natural selection in a population, and selection pressures do not force a particular long-term approach to adaptation. An adaptation that works today may not work tomorrow, and the amount of genetic/phenotypic variation (perhaps another take on "complexity") in a population is a result of many factors, none of which are necessarily working towards greater variation. If it doesn't help you survive, it's junk.
As humans, we like to think ourselves both complex and perfectly adapted to our environment, but the evidence shows that there have been times in history in which having a big brain has been a disadvantage. It's metabolically expensive, it requires training, and therefore it requires a long adolescence. Obviously in the long run it has been a great advantage, but in evolutionary terms, we have been around for a miniscule amount of time. In the future, our incredibly expensive and slow-to-train brains might put us at a disadvantage. We are the mercy of nature, more than we know.
As a footnote, I am just discussing evolution here, this is not a launchpad for a discussion into creationism vs. evolution, so please do not structure a response as such.
As humans, we like to think ourselves both complex and perfectly adapted to our environment, but the evidence shows that there have been times in history in which having a big brain has been a disadvantage. It's metabolically expensive, it requires training, and therefore it requires a long adolescence. Obviously in the long run it has been a great advantage, but in evolutionary terms, we have been around for a miniscule amount of time. In the future, our incredibly expensive and slow-to-train brains might put us at a disadvantage. We are the mercy of nature, more than we know.
As a footnote, I am just discussing evolution here, this is not a launchpad for a discussion into creationism vs. evolution, so please do not structure a response as such.
A good example is parasites. Often if a free-living species adapts to be parasitic it will become much more simplified- for example, it might lose almost all of its digestive system since it is sucking blood or predigested food.
This post has been edited by Veritus Dartarion: 17 June 2007 - 05:28 PM
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