Re: progress in evolution

Rich Daniel (rwdaniel@dnaco.net)
Thu, 3 Jun 1999 21:05:53 -0400 (EDT)

Bertvan wrote:

> I've read arguments that evoltution has no direction, does not result in
> increased complexity. Surely muli celled organisms are more complex than
> single celled organisms. In mammals, evolution seems to have resulted in an
> increasingly complex central nervous system, culminating in the complexity of
> human consciousness. To tell the truth, I don't know how that might apply to
> plants, or even insects. You have opinions on the subject?

Certainly in some situations higher intelligence will be selected. In
other ecological niches it won't. There is no *internal* drive toward
higher complexity; it all depends on what happens to work best in a
particular niche.

Another example of decreasing complexity is the evolution of blind cave
fish.

Rich Daniel rwdaniel@dnaco.net http://www.dnaco.net/~rwdaniel/