How Evolution REALLY Works, Part I

Link to interactive evolution simulator:
http://www.freewebs.com/scikidus/evol...

How Evolution Works the GAME. A must see!!!

KevinPluck has turned this simulation into an interactive game. You are the predator and the squares evolve to avoid you eating them.

http://www.kevinpluck.net/evolution-v...

The world is full of misinformation.

Interesting how most of the Young Earth Creationists and people pushing Intelligent Design, clearly don't have an education in the biological sciences. Evolution is the product of Natural Selection AND Mutation. Either alone does nothing.

Evolution is the logical outcome of the world around us. Organisms that store their genetic information in DNA are guaranteed to have mutations. Mutations produce NEW variation. Reproducing organisms are guaranteed to compete for resources. Competition between variable organisms leads to natural selection, i.e. those organisms that possess variation that gives then an advantage will out compete those who don't. Organisms with deleterious variation will lose to all other organisms. In this way the ENVIRONMENT SELECTS the best organisms. This has the effect of passing beneficial mutations on to the next generation and removing deleterious ones. Over time natural selection will lead to a net shift in the genome of the population, i.e. evolution.

Yes, this really is evolution. Changes in allele frequency, changes in gene expression, and changes in transcription factor binding efficiency, they are all evolution.

Logic predicts evolution, and observation confirms it. Evolution has been observed in the lab and in nature. Speciation (macroevolution) has been observed in the lab and in nature. Large changes in appearance have been observed in the lab and in nature. Beneficial mutations have been observed in the lab and in nature.

CORRECTION: Some have noted that Evolution need not include Natural Selection, as genetic drift does result in evolution. I agree that genetic drift is evolution, and should stress that Natural Selection is just one mechanism for evolution.

Natural Selection + Random Mutation = Evolution
Genetic Drift + Random Mutation = Evolution

Both are true.

To see an example of how genetic drift can lead to a speciation event, i.e. macroevolution, check out an old video of mine

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nnu-O5...

To deny evolution is to deny direct observation. It is as silly as denying that the sky is blue.

To download this video go to:
http://www.mediafire.com/?9lg2il2mqgw

To download the code for the simulation go to:
http://www.mediafire.com/?2lbzod2myiw

To read the Dover Trial Transcript go to:
http://www.aclupa.org/legal/legaldock...

To see the evidence presented in the trial go to:
http://www2.ncseweb.org/kvd/

If you wish to translate this video you can download the PowerPoint file from:
http://www.mediafire.com/?yw0zdtimi2w

Learn the facts, spread the truth, and most importantly, Think About It.

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  Howto & Style

[BehindDesign]

As everything in nature, things are not black or white. I do not think all is a preprogrammed process, it's more similar to a process that reprograms itself in functions to external stimulus of multiple origin.

[BehindDesign]

Some quantum experiments seem to expose retrocausal phenomena. I think that you understand that, if these phenomena are playing a role, and i think this is the case, the notion not only of evolution but our behavior as humans will be viewed from an entirely new perspective. Anyway i think we are going too far. I just say that we are not in position to say it will not have effects because we ignore the effects.

[XGralgrathor]

"mutations are not really random"

You're certainly free to argue your case.

And in fact, various scientists have already *demonstrated* that mutations may, in some cases, be affected by preceding physical conditions.

But I think you're saying that they're not random at all; none of them. Which is something very much not supported by anything we know about physics.

[XGralgrathor]

The principles of evolution are that interaction with the replicator's environment causes a physical feedback that causes a modification in the nature of the population's future generations. Whether that physical feedback takes places via known or unknown physics does not affect the principle.

[BehindDesign]

My opinion is that mutations are not really random but are part of a "mechanism". I think that real random mutations are rare and not different from copy errors when working with computers. What we interpret as random mutations are really changes induced by DNA itself. If you are interested look for "adaptive mutations".

[BehindDesign]

"This, however, does not affect the principles of evolutionary theory"

If we still haven not discovered these laws then we ignore the effects.

[XGralgrathor]

"not only the physics we have discovered"

This is true. We know now that quantum phenomena can affect the macroscopic physical state of a structure, and thus affect evolution. This, however, does not affect the principles of evolutionary theory.

[XGralgrathor]

"now i'm convinced"

That's nice. Still, one can safely discard the notion of "information" and reason purely from replicator-effectivity without it affecting the outcome.

[BehindDesign]

I disagree, when i began to program evolution sims i thought it was a simple physical process. But now i'm convinced that DNA should not be understand only as a physical but also as an information problem similar to programming language. Moreover evolution is using all real physics of our world, not only the physics we have discovered and maybe it is using mechanisms that far surpass our comprehension.

[XGralgrathor]

But is this the same kind of information we get when we compose a message to a receiver, which the receiver then validates and interprets against a set of mutual understandings that are externally codified?

No. In genetics, there is no sender, no receiver, no external lexicon, no message. There's just chemistry, cause and effect.