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.

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 innate drive to survive and reproduce. If either of these traits were absent, that particular lineage of biology would cease to exist.

For survival and reproduction, biological organisms require a source of energy. This energy is a vital resource for them and is needed to preserve their integrity against the ravages of entropy. It is their Kryptonite.

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

The amount of energy available, 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 geographical location and the season. Tropical latitudes have more sunlight available for consumption compared to higher latitudes. It is no wonder that the variety 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.

Emergence of new 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, akin to having a larger slice of the pie, improves the chances of survival and reproduction. Over several generations, these advantageous traits begin to dominate the population, leading to the evolution of the organism into a new species.

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 and traits beneficial for securing energy are favored.

This straightforward narrative encapsulates the fundamental principle of natural selection. It is a process where organisms possessing traits that enhance chances for survival and reproduction (by securing more energy) tend to produce more offspring compared to their counterparts. This leads to a gradual increase in the prevalence of beneficial traits over successive generations.

The beauty and elegance of this concept lie in the fact that two fundamental facts, which could be considered as axioms, lead to the formulation of natural selection as the only viable path forward. Even if alternative processes for evolutions could be theoretically construed, they may not be sustainable solutions without help from an external agency 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 temporarily 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 universal connectedness, which brings about the feeling of existence 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.