Natural Selection: Could there be any other alternative?

 

Natural selection is a mechanism for generating an exceedingly high degree of improbability — Ronald Fisher

Arun Kumar

Arun Kumar + AI

With my newly found identity as a more intelligent self, I continue with my quest for understanding and questioning the reasons for the wonders that surround me. In doing so, I quickly learn that it is so easy to keep going down rabbit holes. An answer to one question inevitably leads to another. Perhaps that is the reason that ultimately one gives up and says it is turtles all the way.

So, after little exploration I had figured out the reasons behind the fact that the physiology of my eyes is receptive to electromagnetic radiation between violet (380 nanometers) and red (750 nanometers). The reason had something to do with the spectral irradiance of the Sun and that living organisms are compelled to compete for the energy it provides.

Learning how well the physiology of my eyes fit the environment, I started to wonder about a more fundamental question whether my seeing a particular part of the electromagnetic spectrum an evolutionary inevitability.

Given the boundary conditions set by the Sun under which I evolved, inevitability of my traits fitting the environment is certainly a plausible hypothesis. Perhaps other options, for example, eyes being perceptive to the infrared part of the electromagnetic radiation, were tried and either were turned out to be dead ends or if some of them did work they got relegated to living in some lonely ecological niche like bats do.

Guided by the firm hands of the principles of natural selection that shape evolution and favor the survival of the fittest, the physiology of my eyes could indeed be an evolutionary inevitability.

The curiosity did not rest there. It wanted to go a little deeper into the rabbit holes and wonders if the principles of natural selection and the survival of the fittest, itself are an inevitability.

It may be so, my mind posits. The mind scurried down to explore following holes.

The Sun can only provide a fixed amount of radiative energy for the entirety of the Earth to consume (and the number depends on the Earth’s distance from the Sun and the disc area of the Earth to intercept the radiation). No argument there.

All biological forms need energy to hold themselves together, and ultimately, the only source of energy is from the Sun and that amount of energy is finite. No argument there either.

What defines a biological form is replication and reproduction. For otherwise, they might as well be rocks. Can I really argue with that?

With available energy being finite, competition for energy among various biological forms follows. By chance happenstance, some traits may be more efficient accessing the common pool of available energy.

Biological forms that evolve traits that are more efficient in garnering available energy have a better fitness quotient for survival and reproduction.

If a trait allows for better chances for reproduction, that particular trait proliferates in future generations and the biological form thereby evolves.

And that is the process of natural selection and the survival of the fittest.

It is hard to give a contrary argument against any of the steps that led to above inference. It is almost that natural selection has a natural grace for its logic and there could not have been any other way.

Going down these rabbit holes almost makes the existence of principles of natural selection an inevitability.

The simplicity, and the logical necessity of the argument begs for the question — could it have been any other way than natural selection works? It sure does not seem likely.

The curiosity wants to do down deeper and wonder whether biological forms in the different corners of the universe share the same traits as me, and perhaps, there might also be some inevitability for biological forms sharing the same traits as me even if separated by light years.

After all, no matter where the Starship Enterprise goes, biological forms are somewhat similar to mine. Although it is just a TV show made for entertainment, but there might be some inevitability for it.

For now, the brain cells are fatigued and need some rest. Exploring other rabbit holes can wait for tomorrow.

Ciao.

The Internet

 

It is much too hard
climbing mountains,
      and so,
we just surf
      the web.

Everything after all,
      chooses the path
of least resistance. 

Fitting in a Puddle

 

Imagine a puddle waking up one morning and thinking, “This is an interesting world I find myself in, an interesting hole I find myself in; fits me rather neatly, doesn’t it? In fact, it fits me staggeringly well! It must have been made to have me in it! — Douglas Adams

Arun Kumar

Arun Kumar + AI

That is quite a remarkable thought. However, I do not need to be a puddle to ponder such a profound question. I, as myself, can wake up one morning and marvel at the miracle of finding myself in surroundings that fit me so well. Furthermore, I wonder, how is that even possible? Do I happen to just fit into the surroundings, or is it the other way around, with the surroundings having managed to fit my traits?

I could imagine a thought experiment where I go to sleep and during the night, get hit on the head, waking up significantly more intelligent than I was before. [Note: I guess this could be considered a different kind of awakening — suddenly gaining enlightenment.]

When I wake up in the morning, endowed with the newly acquired gift of intelligence, I find my mind overflowing with all kinds of questions that I lacked the intellectual wherewithal to contemplate before. Intriguingly philosophical questions about how and why my personal traits align so harmoniously with the external world.

Back in my school days of elementary physics, I had learned about the electromagnetic spectrum, but my mind did not show any curiosity about why my eyes are attuned to seeing the part of the spectrum that ranges from violet to red — a range in which so many visual wonders of the external world exist. Now, my more intelligent self is eager to understand why.

Similarly, why is the audible range of my hearing from 20 to 20,000 Hertz (Hz), allowing me to hear things happening around me?

Filled with curiosity, I start to wonder where I should look for answers, or if there are any answers to begin with. If I keep my curiosity burning and continue searching for answers, I have a feeling that I will find them.

With perseverance, and by digging through the books in the local library and conducting searches (thanks to Dr. Google and Bing), I begin to unravel the reasons.

The reason that the physiology of my eyes and their interaction with neurons are tuned to register the electromagnetic spectrum between violet (380 nanometers) and red (750 nanometers) is that the Sun, the ultimate source of energy for all living organisms on Earth, emits radiation whose spectral density peaks around these wavelengths.

The physiology of the eye is similar for other living organisms in that we all have also evolved our visual traits to take advantage of this fact. In this way, we share a commonality in what we can perceive.

The curious fact is that we did not need to know anything about the electromagnetic spectrum or the spectral density of the Sun. We did not have to first analyze the spectral density of the Sun and decide, ‘Hey, let’s engineer the physiology of our eyes to take advantage of this.’ Instead, the process of natural selection, working under the given environmental conditions, did that for us.

The physiology of my eyes is a case where the hole was there, and I evolved to fit into it.

The story is the same for the physiology of my ear, which is capable of responding to longitudinal waves between 20 Hz and 20,000 Hz.

This is because the typical conditions at the surface — namely, the pressure and density of the air — allow such longitudinal waves to travel most efficiently through the air. Once again, most biological organisms share this commonality, and the reason is the guiding hand of natural selection. Needless to say, once again the hole was there, and I evolved to fit into it.

The fact of the matter is that, living under the glory of the Sun — the giver of energy that we all rely on — and guided by the patient, yet firm hand of the principles of natural selection, various biological organisms are actors on a stage. They have evolved to share common traits and are engaged in a play where they can see, hear, feel, and smell each other, participate in the unfolding of each other’s lives over time.

So, what to tell the puddle about its amazement upon waking up and finding ‘an interesting hole that fits its form so well’? The answer is to say, ‘Not so fast, my friend. Perhaps the hole was already there, and it was the malleability of your form, working with the tendency of natural systems to settle into a state of least potential energy, that did the trick. And when you woke up, you discovered that you fit so well into it.

In the end, considering the innumerable characteristics, traits, and forms I could have embodied, there is likely a reason why a particular solution was selected among many possibilities. To understand why, I just have to wonder and ask the question.

Ciao.

May be or Maybe

 

There is tomorrow
but perched at its front,
       always sits a 'may be'
or a 'maybe'—
and if not leading,
      then it follows.

‘May be’ tomorrow
      or tomorrow, ‘may be.’

‘Maybe’ tomorrow
      or tomorrow, ‘maybe’.

Whichever way, perhaps
we will still be together
      come tomorrow
and that is so much easier
      to convey.