> I agree "progress" might be a meaningless word out of context--like "good"
> and "bad". I was suggesting that over time the central nervous system of
> mammals has become increasingly complex. As to whether that is "good" or
> "bad", I wouldn't judge nature in those terms. Most people judge nature
in
> those terms if it is good or bad for humans, and I suspect most of us
would
> consider the complexity which resulted in our consciousness as progress.
But
> the question is: Have mammals tended to be increasingly more complex as
they
> made their appearance upon earth. (I realize complexity doesn't
necessarily
> enhance survivability.) I suppose a question the creationists might ask
> would be: "If complexity doesn't enhance survivability, why has natural
> selection bothered to come up with increasingly complex mammals? And if
it
> did offer enhanced for one creature, why not all creatures?" I'm not
> suggesting I have any answers, but sometimes creationists ask good
questions.
>
not become more complex over time; the "complexity" that represents the
mammals has simply been rearranged to create a very diverse group. Certainly
many mammals have genes that are unique to themselves, but they also lost
other genes even as they acquired the new one. The result is no significant
net change in complexity, just a reshuffling that involves both loss and gain
simultaneously.
I should also point out that science is not obligated to follow the lead of
the public in defining terms. The public sees an increase in complexity as
progress simply because it has grown use to the idea that increasing social
and technological complexity goes hand in hand with "progress". Science,
however, recognizes that progress is a subjective term and so largely avoids
it. Instead it concentrates on whether complexity increases or decreases,
measured by an increase or decrease in structural organization. No value
judgement is made concerning what constitutes good and what constitutes bad
except in terms of functional efficiency and versitility.
Kevin L. O'Brien