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Author: Marc Lankhorst (lankhors@cs.rug.nl)
Date: Jan 31, 1995
Parent Node(s):
Will for immortality (annotated node)
Evolution is unstable
You state that "it must be that evolution produces stability". I don't
agree. If you look
at e.g. predator-prey or parasite-host interaction, evolution may produce a
highly
unstable sequence of improvements on both sides, which could even lead to the
extinction of either side: if the predator evolves some trait that gives it
a large
advantage over the prey, in the short term this trait might become
prevalent in the
predator population, but in the longer term it might lead to extinction of
the prey,
and eventually of the predator itself.
Although one could say that genes strive for immortality by surviving from one
generation of the next as many times as possible, short-term success might
lead to
long-term failure. Predator-prey cycles are notoriously chaotic, and small
(evolutionary) changes may have large effects. I am inclined to think that
evolution
itself produces a chaotic system, in which each mutation holds the
potential of a
radical disturbance of the complete system.
I therefore think that your statement that "the will to immortality is now
not only
desirable, but also evolutionarily demanded" is based on shaky grounds.
Furthermore, this will to immortality is individual, i.e., we want
*ourselves* to be
immortal. Evolution, which only operates from generation to generation, does not
care for individual immortality, and not even for immortality of genes. As
argued
above, short-term survival of genetic material may lead to long-term extinction.
I do agree with you on the issue of free choice, but why do you try to find a
justification for the will to immortality in evolution, while at the same
time stating
that "values cannot be derived from facts about nature"?
One remark about "survival of the fittest" being a tautology: fertility and
sexual
selection also play a role in reproduction, and can be affected by a
creature's features.
Such features might even be disadvantageous to direct survival, (see e.g.
the long tail
of a peacock), but they help the genes to survive into the next generation.
The phrase
is therefore only a tautology if with "survival" one means survival of genes.