Skeptomania - Paranormal / UFOs, etc.

paul68 · Shaved Ape

"Complexity in living things is a product of the lack of direction in evolutionary processes, of the accumulation of fortuitous accidents, rather than the product of design."

http://www.seedmagazine.com/news/2008/01/algorithmic_inelegance.php

Yaish · Intel Chief

Great article Paul, and it makes me think of an interesting supposition.

Is evolution in a particular genetic line eventually doomed to failure based on over complication?
Evolution of species themselves wouldn't be in jeopardy since the simple forms would continue, but could a line develop which is so complex that almost no further additions could be made without serious detriment to the species?

I wonder if that could account for some elements of extinction. We say now "they failed to adapt". Well maybe they were unable to adapt, and potentially helpful adaptations created more problems than they solved.

Gren · God Of Oreos

Evolution isn't always a one way process from less to increased complexity, and I'm thinking maybe a species which has evolved too much complexity might start to undo that complexity, reverting to a less complex biomachine.

This would explain the hobbit species.

Yaish · Intel Chief

Of course. As I said evolution was in no danger of not working, but for some species it may have painted itself in a corner.

I'm thinking of the computer program analog too, specifically think of Windows. After a certain amount of patches, fixes, and updates, and further support for new products etc... the developers just need to start over with an entirely new kernel. You can only go so far with the old one before you either can't make new additions without hopeless bogging it down, or paring back other functions which may be 'necessary'. Either way could result in the death of a species.

asmodee

It has always amazed me how the body automatically adapts to the things around it. In a way, this is real time examples of how evolution works. If you cut yourself, it heals as a scar. The scar tissue is tougher and has no feeling in it. Your body has adapted to make that spot harder to cut in the future. If you stare at a color for a while, then look away, you will see its complimentary color. They eye has adapted to seeing too much of that color by automatically toning it down. If you are out in the sun a lot, you get a tan. If you are in the cold a lot, you get used to it. Germs are becoming resistant to antibiotics. Whatever you do to a living thing, it adapts to handle it, if it's not killed in the process. Hell, something like 50% of people can adapt an immunity to either strychnine or cyanide (I forget which) if exposed to small amounts over a period of time. While this isn't the same process as evolution, it does demonstrate the principal pretty well, I think. Life is about adapting and changing, both in the short term and the long term. Anything which cannot adapt dies. It's a beautiful thing in itself and need no fairies to make it special and amazing.

TheMadHobbit · Subway Tolkien