Evolution Eating Itself?

[Eudaimonist]

One way of explaining it is that a scientific theory is a well-supported model of how something works.


eudaimonia,

Mark

 

[Ripheus27]

I'm not saying that "evolution is just a theory" in the creationist sense of such a statement. For as I said, it's a theory that has been proven (not just non-falsified) in some cases. But at the same time, it's something of a category mistake to talk of "evolution eating itself" by means of human ingenuity since first off, the results of our evolved capacities are outputs of evolution anyway, and secondly since even an advanced description of a past process is exactly that, a description of the past. Now there might very well be timeless laws pertaining to what has gone on since time immemorial, but if something we did caused the application of that law to be suspended somehow, well...

 

[Ripheus27]

I think I mean to say that it seems to me as if evolution is inside living things, not an entity that imposes itself on them. It is more of a constitutive than a regulative force. For us to be able to constitute life (by technologically creating it) would not mean that evolution was being violated as a regulation.

 

[Mystman]

I carefully worded it as 'sudden dramatic changes (as they are rarely occuring in nature - like a nuclear strike or a thorough chemical contamination) coupled with intentionality". Of course, whether the sudden change is unintentional or intentional doesn´t make a difference to the evolutionary processes in the species affected. Intentionality, however, may make a difference in that the changes are not recurring incidents of the same kind (like repeated flooding), but dramatic sudden changes of different kinds in short order.

I'm sure there are some examples of lifeforms who have evolved a new feature, and then proceeded to radically alter the environment for creature X within a single lifetime of X (or just a few lifetimes), thus preventing any adaptation.

A new type of algae choking all life in a lake. A pathogen wiping out entire populations. An invasive swarm of insect X eating the highly specific flower that insect Y requires for its reproduction.

The only thing may be that humans can communicate and coordinate on a worldwide scale, so we can ruin ecosystems around the entire world at the same time. But for many lifeforms, a single forest, or a single lake, basically is the entire world. If the composition of the lake radically changes within a lifetime, the species goes extinct.

 

[Loudmouth]

This species has evolved the capability to render evolution toothless. Humanity (since presumably the industrial revolution) has the ability to change the environment so radically and at such a speed that evolution´s tools are unable to follow and give our species and other species the opportunity to adapt to the new environmental conditions.
IOW: Evolution has "created" a speed that renders it too slow to deal with its own results.

What you are missing is that our ability to rapidly change environments IS an adaptation. Our big brains are an adaptation that evolved in our lineage. Therefore, if we evolve so that our fitness is dependent on our big brains then we are only shifting the selective pressure from one thing to another. We are switching the selective pressure from physical adaptations like fur for a cold climate to an advanced brain capable of building a fire and clothes.

This shifting of selection pressures is certainly not unprecendented. For example, some whales have a vestigial pelvis that has lost the function of supporting legs and the weight of the animal. This doesn't mean that evolution is no longer acting on the whale because the pelvis has been allowed to become non-functional. Rather, other adaptations have rendered that feature to be of less importance. It is the same process that is happening in humans with respect to our brains, and to our ability to manipulate tools.

 

[Gospel Guy]

Maybe it´s complete nonsense

Yes, evolution is complete nonsense that is nothing more
than one of many theories that cannot even be proven.

 

[Loudmouth]

Yes, evolution is complete nonsense that is nothing more
than one of many theories that cannot even be proven.

Evolution is as unproven as the Theory of Atoms or the Germ Theory of Disease.

 

[Dave Ellis]

Yes, evolution is complete nonsense that is nothing more
than one of many theories that cannot even be proven.

And yet evolution has been proven to occur many times over.... It's been directly observed

 

[icarusAugust]

I like your idea.

It is not because the idea is right, but because you pointed out a problem which evolutionist has no way to solve. Their reaction? They do not talk about it at all.

In other words, humanity is not a content in the theory of biological evolution.

First, we are the product of evolution.
Second, there are explanations for the idea you gave.
Evolution is not something that proves success. I mean, it is not a perfect system that says that by it there will be no chance of failure.
We all have heard of some species causing another species to go extinct. The barnacles in the Great Lakes has overrun countless aquatic species, so why would it shock you that since, as products of evolution, we can cause extinction of many other species?
Intelligence does not override evolution. We have not surpassed it. It is a bottleneck situation that causes drastic changes and being intelligent we have recognized how not to isolate ourselves to biological threats so immediately.
If you have any questions, please email me: scottmccracken34 at yahoo.com