So what selection pressure do I have to watch out for, that might make me a monkey?

[PsychoSarah]

No, you asked me a question, and I asked you a counter question, rather than go down the rabbit trail of working out which actions are directed and which are not.

The point is you have to show that there is a relationship between Evolution and irreversibility, logically one that evolves (since this is preferable at the very least).

Reality can have all the irreversibility it wants, it operates according to the laws of physics, you are trying to show that something further emerges from the laws of physics (but you are not showing that a relationship to irreversibility exists).

Consider this: individual mutations have a certain probability of occuring, and some are more likely than others. Some which previously were not deadly can also become deadly in combination with certain traits. You can't evolve backwards because the chances of the mutations required occuring in an order that doesn't result in death at some point down the line is neigh impossible. Technically, it is the probability of all the mutations that occured between you and a monkey occuring again, but in reverse (and humans weren't what evolved into monkeys, so this might be truly impossible for many, many reasons), essentially undoing all the mutations that occured, in a way that doesn't result in death. and you need an environment that is selective for monkey traits over human traits without resulting in extinction. Even if you tried to set this up, it has a high potential of being truly impossible for you to even get a few steps back.

 

[[serious]]

No, you asked me a question, and I asked you a counter question, rather than go down the rabbit trail of working out which actions are directed and which are not.

The point is you have to show that there is a relationship between Evolution and irreversibility, logically one that evolves (since this is preferable at the very least).

Reality can have all the irreversibility it wants, it operates according to the laws of physics, you are trying to show that something further emerges from the laws of physics (but you are not showing that a relationship to irreversibility exists).

7. Non living things don't evolve

 

[PsychoSarah]

7. Non living things don't evolve

correction, that which doesn't have genetic material and doesn't reproduce can't evolve. Curse you viruses and how you complicate matters!

 

[RealityCheck01]

Reality can have all the irreversibility it wants, it operates according to the laws of physics,...

Actually according to the laws of physics everything is reversible, Gottservant !
The puzzle is why there is an "arrow of time" that makes things irreversible, e.g. we do not see scrambled eggs unscrambling, not matter how long we mix them.

 

[MerlinJ]

This is oddly similar to the views the Victorians held about degeneration, which was the idea that, usually through moral laxity or something, humanity (the English) might slip back into less evolved forms (the Irish). This is obviously wrong and super racist, but it fueled a lot of their literature.

 

[[serious]]

correction, that which doesn't have genetic material and doesn't reproduce can't evolve. Curse you viruses and how you complicate matters!

Hmm, you're right.

7. things that don't self replicate don't evolve

Doesn't have the same simplicity about it. Any suggestions?