Was Evolution Into Humans Inevitable


Since the 1980's when a scientist first tossed out this question it has been debated. Did the changes which took place from the beginning of the first form of live have a direction that made us the beneficiaries? Or, are we the result of random and chance changes?

There have been stacks of books and articles written about evolution. There is no controversy within the scientific community about whether or not we are the result of evolution. There is speculation, however, about whether our present human characteristics might have been inevitable from the start.

The term "randomness" is not simple, to me at least. It seems random that the chemicals, electrical charges and other variable had to come together to form the first living cells. But after one organism starts to eat or dominate others the odds for a favorable change to the winners seems better than that of the losers. That is, evolution has guard rails. Those that get eaten most quickly have the smallest chance of surviving. Randomness seems not quite present.

It is not entirely clear present human characteristics were entirely inevitable. Probably we will never know.

I've made mental notes of things humans practiced in the past that harmed them. These things did not seem to change human evolution. For example, fire was used it for warmth and cooking. But it made living spaces smoky and surely unhealthy. But, I've never heard of human traits evolving to deal with the results of smoky caves and lodges.

Also, prehistoric teeth show evidence of decay. One theory is decay resulted from eating honey and, of course, not cleaning teeth. Humans did not develop any resistance to tooth decay or an aversion to honey.

It was inevitable some creatures would dominate others. That is was man may not have been inevitable.

Comments

  1. tsmJune 16, 2019 at 10:17 AM

    as a materialist of the strict observance you should know the answer to the question that you have posed. if reality is northing more than the chance interaction of particles of what we call matter, it is then obvious that we were not "destined" in any sense of that word. we are merely a happy (happy from our point of view) accident of nature. and a meaningless accident at that. we are merely here, left to make whatever sense of things that we choose to make of it (or is choose the wrong word inasmuch as materialism seemingly rules out free will). BTW, I wonder how a materialist of the strict observance can account for the rise of a self-conscious, rational, moral being. how would you respond to that challenge? maybe it's just another happy accident, something about as probable as a ten to the minus thousandth power event. and what do you mean when you talk about "destiny"? destined by who or what?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jon LindgrenJune 16, 2019 at 11:54 AM

      "...we were not 'destined' in any sense of the word." We have no evidence we were destined by anything or anyone. There is a need among many humans beings to believe they are more important than simply the results of a planet in the right place at the right time and evolution. I do not need that feeling of self importance. Those who do need it gravitate toward religion.

      Delete
    2. tsmJune 16, 2019 at 1:04 PM

      spoken like a materialist of the strict observance. gratified to know that you are so humble as to think of yourself as a cosmic accident.

      Delete
  2. tsmJune 16, 2019 at 5:01 PM

    on second thought, maybe it's not humility at all: it's self abasement bordering on self contempt. paradoxically combined with humanistic utopianism. interesting, eh?

    ReplyDelete

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