A very small cause which escapes our notice determines a considerable effect that we cannot fail to see, and then we say that the effect is due to chance.” — Henri Poincaré
Summary: We think about the intricacies of life and death, meaning of existence, consciousness, an agency guiding the creation and evolution of the universe, but in the end it could all be as simple as some self-evident facts — limits on resources, randomness — having some inevitable consequences of far-reaching significance.
From on a few simple (or simply obvious), yet undeniable facts, inevitable outcomes arise that have the power to significantly influence the workings of the universe.
One simple fact is that energy as a resource, and available for consumption, is limited.
Living on the Earth’s surface, we rely on the Sun as our ultimate energy source. At the core of the Sun, the immense pressure from the outer gas layers pushing inwards increases the temperature and density sufficiently for two hydrogen nuclei to fuse into a helium atom. This fusion process releases energy, raising the temperature at the Sun’s core further to counterbalance the inward pressure of the gas.
Disregarding the complex physics of stellar processes, all that matters in the context of discussion here is that ultimately the energy produced by the Sun’s fusion process, which radiates outward and reaches Earth’s surface, is finite.
The finiteness of energy, being an undeniable fact, has far reaching consequences.
In an energy limited environment let us assume that biology exists. For now, let us leave behind the question of how biology came about and just assume that it is there.
Basic tenets of biology are a will to survive and to procreate. If either characteristic is not there we will not be talking about biological forms. There will be nothing to talk about because their existence will be ephemeral.
Survival and reproduction require energy. To secure energy, and to secure it better than the neighbor can, biological forms have evolved sensory mechanisms to gauge their environment. They also developed physical (mechanical) artifacts to procure energy and developed the chemistry necessary to convert the energy available in the environment they live in into the form that is suitable for them.
How did they managed to develop such mechanisms is because of one of the inevitable outcomes of the interaction between two simple facts — energy is limited and randomness. Whenever the two are together, an inevitable outcome that we are going to highlight is going to happen.
Within biological forms random fluctuations in their physical, cognitive, psychological characteristics occur. This is because the process of procreation (or replication) is not perfect and during the process random errors occur. Errors in gene replication are expressed as physical characteristics (the phenotype). Some phenotypes help secure more energy that is available in the environment leading to better chances for survival and reproduction. Over generations, the habituation of the advantageous phenotypes leads to the emergence of a new species that is better fit for securing resources and has a better chance for continued survival.
That is the mechanism of natural selection.
The basic and undeniable facts that (a) resources in the environment are limited, and (b) the influence of randomness permeates, if biology is to exist, the inevitable consequence will be an arms race to secure resources and the principle of the survival of the fittest will emerge.
Once there, driven by the natural selection that prefers phenotypes that are better suited at securing energy available in the environment, has far reaching influence on how biology evolves.
Because of natural selection, starting from the biology of self-replicating molecules, a couple billion years later, here we are a biological form that has consciousness and seems to possess an agency to break the guardrails set by the process of natural selection that help it get there.
Put three facts together — a rudimentary biology in a resource limited environment where randomness in the replication process is expressed as phenotypes that help better secure available resources — the principle of natural selection has to emerge to take the rudimentary biological form on a stunning evolutionary journey of getting better and better at exploiting available resources that are sourced from the Sun.
That, in a nutshell, is the history of how we got here
In this process no external agent is required. There is no blueprint needed. There is no preconceived end goal in the mind of an agent.
There is no gardener out there with shears in hand pruning growth and giving it a form that has a beautiful form.
A form like you see in the manicured trees that line the boulevards and streets in European cities was never planned, and yet, there is beauty in what has evolved.
Repeat the process and start once again from rudimentary biology and the evolutionary trajectory will be different. The environmental conditions in which the evolutionary arms race is taking place could suddenly change and what was an advantageous phenotype may no longer be so.
We think about the intricacies of life and death, meaning of existence, consciousness, an agency guiding the creation and evolution of the universe, but in the end it could all be as simple as some self-evident facts — limits on resources, randomness — having some inevitable consequences of far-reaching significance.
Ciao, and thanks for reading.
No comments:
Post a Comment