Evolution

I've been battling an upper respiratory infection so I've had a couple days free-time to work on my new video. I hope you enjoy it.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• evolution
• creationism
• common
• descent
• ancestry
• darwin
• darwinism
• fossil
• evidence
• vestigial
• atavism

[twothlesswonder]

These animals you say have not evolved in millions of years do not exist. It is statistically and genetically impossible not to accrue large amounts of genetic drift between two long separated groups. So much occurs within a couple million years as to even render bonobo/chimp hybrids infertile...

[twothlesswonder]

Again, I can totally see where you're coming from but evolution is ALWAYS a forward process. Even if it may "seem" backwards to us. We have to look beyond our innate biases and see that animals such as eyeless cave fish are well adapted to their environments and as such are genetically superior to fish with eyes. Every bit of evolution depends on environmental context and cost verses benefit.

[twothlesswonder]

"I'm sure the sub subterranean creatures would disagree, the ones with out pigment and eyes."

That's not devolution. Devolution as a concept is strictly "reversed evolution". But I can see where your definition of devolution or rather "life fluctuating back and forth" fits what you described in marine iguanas.

"I wonder if the sea iguanas could not evolve to non sea iguanas again?"

No, they would always be former sea iguanas. We too share indelible stamps of our ancestry.

[romney27]

"Not "to fit", rather "as a result of"." I think you're right about semantics here.

ancestry is fascinating, we have more in common with mushrooms than chimps, so to assume we are all descendant from the first primitive forms of allege seems reasonable to me.

[romney27]

" Devolution is genetically impossible." I'm sure the sub subterranean creatures would disagree, the ones with out pigment and eyes.

I wonder if the sea iguanas could not evolve to non sea iguanas again?

if evolution is moving forward then why have some creature not evolved in millions of years? to what means determines a direction? the ultimate creature that no longer needs to evolve?

[twothlesswonder]

"then life can constantly fluctuate back and forth"

Only on an extremely small scale. Allelic frequency dominates that concept. However, evolution is and always has been a forward moving process, never backwards. Devolution is genetically impossible.

[twothlesswonder]

"Life is always evolving to fit it's environment."

Not "to fit", rather "as a result of".

"And since evolution doesn't have a direction"

This is in conflict with the first quote. Semantically, of course, but not realizing these semantic slip-ups illuminates a lack of recognizing and accounting for bias elsewhere.

As for the figuring which animals evolved from which, superposition of fossils and a gradation of morphological change is enough to tease out ancestry from most examples...

[romney27]

cells being conscious is up for debate, considering that some "beings"are single cell. And they are aware and can communicate with other cells that are entirely different with their own.

humans have more in common genetically with mushrooms than chimps.... so who knows what is consciousness, or common...lol

[romney27]

I can't imagine a universe that would evolve a conscious creature to be conscious of its own random meaninglessness.

At the very least we are conscious of ourselves and can effect our environment with our inherent use of "free will".

It ultimately comes down to the "choice" of how you feel about evolution that will effect the future of our own evolution. You can't take the cognitive out of the equation, and how that too influences the process.

[romney27]

maybe, but the same is true today. Life is always evolving to fit it's environment. And since evolution doesn't have a direction, then life can constantly fluctuate back and forth, depending on it's environment.

which evolved from whom, the crabs that live off the poisonous volcano events on the bottom of the ocean, or the ones that don't? no way to tell.