The inevitability of the process of natural selection

 

I have called this principle, by which each slight variation, if useful, is preserved, by the term of Natural Selection — Charles Darwin

Arun Kumar

Arun Kumar +AI

A fundamental characteristic of biological organisms is their inherent drive to survive and reproduce. If either of these traits were absent, that particular lineage of the organism would cease to exist.

For survival, biological organisms require a source of energy. This energy is a vital resource for them. It is their Kryptonite.

In the context of plants, they harness sunlight and convert it into consumable nutrients through the process of photosynthesis. Animals, on the other hand, are part of a food chain that ultimately relies on the sustenance provided by plants. Therefore, the ultimate source of energy is sunlight, powered by the thermonuclear reactions occurring in its core.

The amount of available energy, however, is limited. There is a fixed amount of sunlight that falls on per square kilometer of Earth’s surface. The amount depends on the location and the season. Tropical latitudes have more sunlight available for consumption compared to higher latitudes. It is no wonder that the complexity of life forms is far richer in the tropics.

The limited availability of energy, coupled with the energy requirements of biological organisms for survival and reproduction, triggers a competition for energy resources. There is no central authority managing the distribution of energy to ensure equitable allocation. Each organism is on its own, employing whatever means necessary to secure as much energy as possible.

Distinct traits among organisms can aid in securing more energy. For plants, characteristics such as greater height or a larger leaf area can help capture more sunlight. Access to a larger portion of the available energy pool, akin to having a larger slice of the pie, improves the chances of survival and reproduction. Over several generations, these advantageous traits that contribute to energy acquisition begin to dominate the population, leading to the evolution of the organism into a new species.

This straightforward narrative, along with its intuitive reasoning, encapsulates the fundamental principle of natural selection. It is a process where organisms possessing traits that enhance survival and reproduction tend to produce more offspring compared to their counterparts. This leads to a gradual increase in the prevalence of these beneficial traits over successive generations.

Given two fundamental facts: (a) biological organisms need energy to survive and reproduce, and (b) the amount of available energy is finite, a competition to secure energy is inevitably established. This straightforward narrative, along with its intuitive logic, succinctly encapsulates the core principle, and inevitability, of natural selection.

The beauty and elegance of this concept lie in the fact that two fundamental truths, which could be considered as postulates, naturally lead to the formulation of natural selection as the only viable path forward. Even if alternative processes could be theoretically construed, they may not be sustainable solutions on their own and would lead to logical dead ends.

Ciao.

The Perhaps of Life

 

…only the philosophical question is perennial, not the answers — Paul Tillich

Arun Kumar

Arun Kumar + AI

There is a part of living that sometimes does not want to run as a well-oiled machine. With the turning of the wheels, if I pay attention, I can hear a faint squeaking.

Sometimes, when I stop along the path I am walking and listen carefully, I can feel an undercurrent that is constantly trying to erode my peace of mind. It is like wanting to sleep and letting go for a while, but there is an annoying mosquito that keeps buzzing around and will not allow sleep to descend.

Finding peace and the feeling of being together (and living with a sense of ease), alongside the uncertainty of whether or not I will be alive tomorrow, are two clashing thoughts. Their battles often leave me feeling exhausted. The thought that everything I do might one day be for nothing, yet there is still the need to keep on going and doing things the best I can, saps the will and energy.

The futility of moving forward but with the knowledge that each step is towards a precipice, and further, at any step, bottom could fall out, makes one want to let limbs go lethargic. In those moments, a sense of fatigue descends upon the spirit, making it hard to keep on moving.

Something inside wants to whisper, “Please leave me here and please keep going. For now, I am too tired to take another step.”

So, what to do? Is there a way out of the existential dilemma of needing to live and yet being aware of mortality? Is there a way to blunt the sharpness of the realization that mortality could just flatten a three-dimensional life into a meaningless nothing?

Once in a while, what antidote can one take to ward off these feelings and emotions that the internalization of mortality is susceptible to bringing? A glass of wine? A belief in something divine?

Perhaps, for some of us, there are no permanent resolutions, and the best we can do is learn to manage the conflict. We can hope to find ways to maintain a truce between living and dying, while acknowledging that occasionally, a full-blown conflict between the two may erupt.

Perhaps, we must always live with the realization that occasionally, the rug may be pulled out from under our feet, and we may fall. It could also be that the tension between living and dying is what defines life, making it interesting and vibrant.

The tension makes living alive.

Once the fall happens, I would question the logic and the meaning of existence once again. After lying flat on my face for a while, I will get up (as I have always done) and either build a new edifice or repair the one I already have (and possibly, make some tweaks to add resiliency).

Perhaps part of managing is accepting that for some of us, this is as good as it gets, and having this option in hand is a lot better than not having any alternatives and merely feeling lost.

Another possibility towards gaining a sense of lasting peace is to experience a sense of universal connectedness, which brings about the feeling of existing beyond one’s present form. This connectedness removes mortality from the equation. Left alone, life has no adversary to contend with. There have been moments of such connectedness, however, they are fleeting.

Perhaps one day, the essence of such ephemeral moments will be captured and preserved in a glass vial, to be worn around the neck and become my companion for life.

Perhaps, one day, I will wear a smile that mirrors the serene joy seen on the lips of enlightened beings.

Ciao.

The Perhaps of Life

Is there a way out of the existential dilemma of needing to live and yet being aware of mortality?

Perhaps there is an antidote can one take to ward off the conflict that the internalization of mortality is susceptible to bring? A glass of red wine? A belief in something, divine?

Perhaps, for some of us, there are no permanent resolutions, and the best we can do is learn to manage the conflict between two illusions.

Perhaps, we must always live with the realization that occasionally, the rug may be pulled out from under my feet.

Perhaps part of managing is accepting that for some of us, this is as good as it gets, and having this option is a blessing.

Perhaps another possibility is to experience a sense of universal connectedness, which brings about the feeling of existing beyond one’s current form, the ‘self’.

Perhaps one day, the essence of such ephemeral moments will be captured and preserved in a glass vial, to be worn, and the walls of mortality would be torn.

Perhaps, one day, I will wear a smile that mirrors the serene joy seen on the lips of enlightened beings.

Perhaps… 

All radio buttons were checked

The day had gone well.

All radio buttons
on the to-do manifest
were marked checked
(and I thought
the spirit was ready to
blast off) -

muscle strengthening exercise - Check,
10K steps - Check,
the breathing regimen - Check,
eating well - Check,
a bit of journaling - Check
reading few pages of a book  - Check
and a short walk
in the neighborhood woods - Check.

By all measures
it should have been a
poster worthy day
something to be lived
over and over,
and over again.

And yet,
it did not feel so.
There was something crucial
that had gone missing.

Making someone smile?
Sharing someone’s fears?
Helping a person cross the road? 
Calling a friend, and  just saying
Hello dear?

Life had gone well.

All  radio buttons…