General Discussion

0rganism

(25,575 posts)

19. "mistake" is not what evolution does

Fri Feb 19, 2016, 05:45 PM

Feb 2016

the notion that evolution makes mistakes is imho an inappropriate personification of what is really a continuing process.

as far as our species goes, it will follow the path of every other species over time: evolve into something else or disappear. "going the way of the dinosaurs" is not such a scary prospect when viewed that way -- after a highly successful span of millions of years as dominant life forms across the planet, dinosaurs Evolved, which is pretty much the best case scenario for a species in the grand scheme of things. we should hope we can do as well in a few million years.

our species does have some special attributes which might give some a mistaken impression that we are somehow an integral part of some "evolutionary endgame", but i think this belies the nature of what is inherently an ongoing universal biological process.

Edit history

Please sign in to view edit histories.

Recommendations

0 members have recommended this reply (displayed in chronological order):

66 replies

= new reply since forum marked as read

Highlight:

Are we humans an evolutionary mistake? [View all] Cyrano Feb 2016 OP

Evolution can never be a "mistake"... TreasonousBastard Feb 2016 #1

Life forms evolve in response to the challenges of existence during their ladjf Feb 2016 #35

My thoughts too! IMO the main destructive aspect of humans is competition rather than cooperation. RKP5637 Feb 2016 #54

I totally agree with your thinking. ladjf Feb 2016 #55

"America is fortunate to have citizens of his stature who are willing to lead us." When I RKP5637 Feb 2016 #60

I looked up several of your previous posts and was delighted to ladjf Feb 2016 #62

Thanks, that is very nice of you to say that, and I think the same of you! n/t RKP5637 Feb 2016 #65

Evolution is a mistake. Rex Feb 2016 #2

Interesting hypothesis regarding formation of life exboyfil Feb 2016 #12

Thanks that is a very interesting read. Rex Feb 2016 #33

Life is due to random coincidences. Death is due to the organism's inability ladjf Feb 2016 #36

It was a joke. Rex Feb 2016 #39

NASA is sending up a new telescope that is 100 times more powerful than Hubble. ladjf Feb 2016 #40

I cannot wait! Hubble brought us groundbreaking imagery of the night sky. Rex Feb 2016 #42

This is a great OP. It has caused a good number of people ladjf Feb 2016 #57

One of the reasons I still hang out here, DU has great discussions. Rex Feb 2016 #64

There are many profound thoughts in this thread Cyrano Feb 2016 #66

Ah. Ffs irony is all over this nadinbrzezinski Feb 2016 #3

The amount of time a civilization remains exboyfil Feb 2016 #4

And it's about to become even rarer pscot Feb 2016 #10

Definitely exboyfil Feb 2016 #13

David Byrne nailed it a long time ago. hifiguy Feb 2016 #20

I think it may be more common. DamnYankeeInHouston Feb 2016 #18

Of course you can't draw conclusions form one set of data exboyfil Feb 2016 #21

We know nothing. Either way would not surprise me. DamnYankeeInHouston Feb 2016 #30

Humans simply can't imagine Crunchy Frog Feb 2016 #51

I'd say that nothing evolution is responsible for is a mistake. randome Feb 2016 #5

Mutations are random exboyfil Feb 2016 #16

imo human species is an evolutionary mistake that will go the way of all parasites that get out of Vincardog Feb 2016 #6

No, just repukes. KamaAina Feb 2016 #7

That's a meaningless question. Evolution is not a guided process. Yo_Mama Feb 2016 #8

There can only be mistakes when there's a purpose Xipe Totec Feb 2016 #9

Nah. hifiguy Feb 2016 #11

J B S Haldane, when asked about the major characteristic of the creator, said: longship Feb 2016 #17

God loves bacteria exboyfil Feb 2016 #22

Well played my friend. longship Feb 2016 #24

I have tenacious Republicans Cyrano Feb 2016 #32

And while they were at it, they created the most important innovation ladjf Feb 2016 #37

I think he actually said "an inordinate fondness for The Beatles." NobodyHere Feb 2016 #29

No! "Send more Chuck Berry!" longship Feb 2016 #31

K&R n/t Dalai_1 Feb 2016 #14

Yes. ananda Feb 2016 #15

"mistake" is not what evolution does 0rganism Feb 2016 #19

Yes and when you look at birds exboyfil Feb 2016 #23

More like a case of too much success, a evolutionary breakthrough. bemildred Feb 2016 #25

Depending on your definition of mistake... gcomeau Feb 2016 #26

No mistakes in evolution. Basic LA Feb 2016 #27

Well, you know there is that "great flood" myth.... 7wo7rees Feb 2016 #28

I suspect that we are actually 2naSalit Feb 2016 #34

We are destroying the only known biosphere in the universe tabasco Feb 2016 #38

got that right. lindysalsagal Feb 2016 #44

+1 mountain grammy Feb 2016 #53

Does evolution have a right answer? Nuclear Unicorn Feb 2016 #41

Evolutionarily speaking... discntnt_irny_srcsm Feb 2016 #49

Yeah, but math sucks so -- -- WIN! Nuclear Unicorn Feb 2016 #63

All of the things you listed as positives are only good in our imaginations The2ndWheel Feb 2016 #43

Not a mistake, just a variation ... hatrack Feb 2016 #45

K&R... spanone Feb 2016 #46

Lesswrong.com AngryAmish Feb 2016 #47

No such thing, as evolution is non-teleological. Crunchy Frog Feb 2016 #48

I think it comes down to humans developing imagination Marrah_G Feb 2016 #50

Big, fat, beer-guzzling manatee with disappearing sponge-like brains... kentuck Feb 2016 #52

The hip ball does not fit in the socket of the pelvis librechik Feb 2016 #56

no. actually, from a natural selection pov, we are quite successful restorefreedom Feb 2016 #58

Go the way of the dinosaurs? Of course we will. lumberjack_jeff Feb 2016 #59

Our technology has outpaced our biological evolution... JCMach1 Feb 2016 #61