The nature of beneficial traits for natural selection changes with time

 

Historians will have to face the fact that natural selection determined the evolution of cultures in the same manner as it did that of species — Konrad Lorenz

Arun Kumar

Arun Kumar + AI

Biological entities require energy to counteract the disorder that entropy persistently seeks to amplify, often leading to the degradation of their form. To combat the force of entropy, biological entities are in constant pursuit of energy for self-preservation. Plants harness energy from light, while animals rely on food, which is fundamentally a product of the energy conversion efforts of plants. For all living beings, energy is a highly sought-after resource. It is their kryptonite.

Various species, be they plants or animals, coexist in a shared environment and vie for the available resource, energy, which is crucial for their survival and reproduction. This competition gives rise to the fundamental concept of natural selection. If a species succeeds in securing a larger share of the available resources, the traits that facilitated this success become more prevalent in the subsequent generations. This is because access to additional resources increases the likelihood of survival and reproduction.

Natural selection is an inexorable, punishing, and unsparing process. If you are not adequately adapted to the offerings of your environment, or if another individual is better equipped to do so, your distant progeny will not exist to honor your memory.

The competition for resources could either be inter-species, such as between lions and hyenas vying for a prey, or it could be intra-species. If a subset of individuals of a species acquires a trait through random genetic mutation that assists in obtaining more resources than their counterparts, that trait becomes more common in future generations. The traits that can provide an upper hand could be either physical or psychological.

The influence of physical traits on survival and reproduction is relatively easy to comprehend. If an individual within a species is stronger, faster, has a longer neck, or possesses the ability to breathe both on land and in water, they are likely to secure a larger share of resources. This improves their prospects of survival and reproduction. As these individuals produce more offspring over time, the advantageous trait starts to become more widespread within the population. This could potentially lead to the emergence of a new species.

Numerous examples can also be construed to illustrate how beneficial psychological traits, by enhancing survival and reproduction, will become prevalent in a population.

Consider fear. The psychological trait of fear towards various dangers threatening our survival is essential. Without fear, and the fight-or-flight response it triggers, human lifespan would be short-lived. Some fears, such as the fear of being bitten by poisonous snakes, are so deeply ingrained in our psyche that the mere rustling of grass can make our hair stand on end.

The principles of natural selection operate within the confines of the current environment where competition takes place. It is within these boundaries that the advantages of physical and psychological traits are assessed. The process of natural selection does not attempt to predict future environmental conditions, nor does it select traits based on their potential benefits in an as-yet-nonexistent environment. The future is too uncertain to gamble on which traits might prove beneficial. Therefore, disregarding potential future events is not a beneficial trait. Hence, humans still continue to discount the future.

One final example of beneficial psychological trait is our inclination to choose the path of least resistance. Given that energy is a valuable resource, when faced with two options that require different amounts of energy, the one requiring less energy is preferred. Why opt for a difficult approach when an easier one is readily available? Our tendency to choose the path of least resistance, combined with our preference for discounting the future, could have a compounding effect that is hugely evident in influencing the behavior of humans even now.

Due to environmental changes and our technological advancements, the categorization of what constitutes a beneficial trait can evolve over time. This has already transpired for physical traits.

Technological progress has equalized the playing field for physical attributes. If you cannot run fast, a vehicle can compensate for that. If your muscles are not as strong as others, there are technological solutions for that as well. We have even reached a point where inter-species competition is no longer a concern for us. Not only that, but we have also modified the environment to such an extent that other species are struggling to survive.

What about psychological traits? Have we succeeded in overcoming their influence? Are these traits no longer relevant in the new paradigm that governs our current societal structures and norms? It does not appear to be so. In the present, our behaviors and responses continue to be guided by psychological traits that were advantageous during our hunter-gatherer days but may no longer be beneficial.

The psychological trait of fear is very much within us. Rustling grass still makes our hair stand on its end. Added to that are other automatic responses that trigger our brain’s primal fear response and are not helpful in a civilized society. Fear of public speaking can generate an automatic response of racing heart, trembling, and sweating. Fear of certain social situations leads to anxiety and automated response of sweating or a desire to flee. Fear of failure trigger automatic responses such as procrastination, perfectionism, or avoidance of challenging tasks.

Despite the significant personal cost, we persist in discounting the future. The average lifespan is now considerably longer than it once was. Much to nature’s dismay, due to advancements in medicine and hygiene, we continue to live well beyond our prime reproductive years. This necessitates planning for extended horizons. Our ongoing inclination to discount the future is no longer beneficial. For a healthier lifespan, we should improve our diet and exercise regularly. For a comfortable retirement, we should save and invest. However, participating in these forward-thinking activities requires considerable discipline, a trait natural selection did not train us for.

The story is the same for our preference for favoring the option of least resistance. Between the options of exercising today vs. being sedentary the whole day is so much easier and that is what gets favored. Alternatively, why task the brain with thinking when mindlessly scrolling for the next story is so less taxing.

Perhaps someday, technology will help equalize disparities in psychological traits. Taking a daily pill or receiving an injection, similar to getting vaccinated during our developmental years, could potentially cure our tendency to discount the future or resist the allure of the path of least resistance. However, until such advancements are made, the psychological traits that were once beneficial will persist. In the meantime, we must remain vigilant against exploitation by politicians, companies, and snake oil salesmen who are adept at manipulating these traits.

What seems even more likely is that the competition of resources (given their finite nature) will never stop, and certain traits, whether psychological or technological, by virtue of their helping secure more resources, will persist indefinitely. The competition for energy will always be there, what traits help us secure it may change.

Ciao.

Evolution

 

Where did it come from?
Why does it exist?
Is there an external agency
that always decides
how shall it proceed?

Should it go from left to right
or from right to left?
From Apes to Humans
or from Humans to Apes?
From worse to better
or from better to worse?
Or just be entangled
in the confusion of
a random maze?

Is it a one of those mysteries
in which universe abounds?
Or the answer is the inevitability
what Mr. Darwin found?

Limit the resources
let individuals compete
throw in a dash reproduction
and that is all one needs.

Will the process of natural selection always be there?

 

Natural selection will not remove ignorance from future generations — Richard Dawkins

Arun Kumar

Arun Kumar + AI

Will humans, as a species, ever be free from the process of natural selection? Or will natural selection persist indefinitely, with only the players — what do we compete for and who do we compete with — involved in the process change over time? I will lean in favor of the latter scenario.

Natural selection is an unyielding, harsh, and merciless process. If you are not well-adapted to your environment, or if another individual is better suited than you, your distant descendants will not exist to pay respects at your grave.

The fundamental concept of natural selection is simple — it’s a process where organisms with traits that assist in acquiring essential resources (such as food, light, water, shelter, etc.) have an increased likelihood of survival and reproduction. As a result, these organisms produce more offspring than their peers. Over time, this results in an increase in the prevalence of these advantageous traits within the population. Such advantageous traits have been physical or psychological.

The impact of physical traits on survival and reproduction is straightforward to understand. If an individual within a species is stronger, faster, has a longer neck, or can breathe both on land and in water, it is likely to secure a larger portion of resources. This enhances its chances of survival and reproduction. Over time, as such individuals produce more offspring, the advantageous trait become more prevalent within the population.

Much like physical traits, psychological traits also enhance an individual’s chances of survival and reproduction. These traits can include behaviors, attitudes, and cognitive abilities that may provide an advantage in securing resources or attracting mates. Over time, much like physical traits. the advantageous psychological traits also become more prevalent within a population.

Natural selection has been a driving force since the advent of self-replicating molecules and biological entities vying for limited resources in their environment. However, over the past 10,000 years, humans have, in many respects, managed to circumvent certain aspects of natural selection through the aid of technology — stone tools, wheels, gun powder etc.

This is particularly true for physical traits, where technology has either leveled the playing field among the peers or has given advantages over other species. For instance, physical traits that were once advantageous, such as the ability to run faster, can now be augmented by motorized vehicles. If we continue on this trajectory of augmenting the process of natural selection, it raises the question: could we someday transcend the process of natural selection altogether? Attractive as it may sound, there are arguments against this.

The counter argument is that to sustain our biological form, we would always need some sort of resources, and as long as resources are limited, the process of natural selection will persist indefinitely. What may changeover time, however, is the nature of the resources that are being competed for.

The nature of competition has already shifted away from securing basic resources like food by hunting and gathering. Currently, the resources we compete for are predominantly monetary, which are subsequently used to procure necessities essential for survival.

What may also change is who we compete with. In the future, the process of natural selection may function within the context of competition among civilizations, or galactic alliances, striving to perpetuate and expand their horizons, and to venture into unexplored territories. Civilizations possessing advantageous technological traits, will gain upper hand. In this sense technological traits will also get added in the mix of physical and psychological traits in deciding winners and losers.

Perhaps the competition will be within civilizations and will be for the spice Melange found on the planet Arrakis.

Ciao.

The inevitability of the process of natural selection - II

 Ideas percolate. Through natural selection, the best ones survive — Andew Lo

Arun Kumar

Arun Kumar + AI

The primary characteristics of a biological entity are a will to survive and reproduce. Without these characteristics, the lineage of a particular form would go extinct and we would not be talking about it. 

Rene Descartes posited the philosophical assertion, “I think, therefore I am” underscoring the necessity of cognition for the notion of self. In a similar vein, one might assert, “I possess the instinct to survive and reproduce, therefore I am a biological form.” This assertion implies that the existence of these instincts in a form affirms that it is biology. These instincts are essential for the continued existence of biology over generations.

Where might the origins of these two traits — survival and reproduction — for biological entities might come from? We could go back to the beginnings of biology to the self-replicating molecules, and ponder whether the concepts of survival and reproduction were inherent to them also.

By definition, a self-replicating molecule must possess one of the two traits — reproduction (after all, it is self-replicating). Survival, however, is not merely about the capacity to replicate, it also encompasses the ability to compete effectively against its peers in the environment it is in. Should a self-replicating molecule lack the ability to compete for resources, it would left behind . Thus, in the absence of this survival instinct to compete, and do so effectively, the molecule’s existence would indeed be short-lived.

If, during this process a life form emerged declaring its lack of need for either survival or reproduction instincts, it was told by others ‘c’est la vie’ or ‘see you later, alligator,’ as they continued on their survival and reproductive journey and were happy to see one less molecule to compete against.

The instinct for survival and reproduction in an environment with limited energy also gave rise to another fundamental principle that drives biological entities. This is the principle for natural selection. The logic for this inevitability goes as follows.

To compete effectively in a resource-constrained environment, a biological entity must possess traits that enables it to secure available resources more efficiently than its peers. This allows it to be better fit for survival and reproduction, and thereby, to produce more offspring. Over generations, this advantageous trait becomes increasingly prevalent in the future population, leading to the emergence of a new species.

Consequently, the instinctive ability of biological entities to survive and reproduce, coupled with the necessity to compete in an energy-limited environment, culminates in the process of natural selection shaping subsequent evolution.

The process of natural selection, hence, is an inevitability for self-replicating forms evolving and competing for resources in an resource limited environment.

Ciao.