The arrow of evolution
Scientific discoveries indicate that life evolved on earth starting from
a single cell and emerged into the life (nature) in which we exist. Yet what
was it evolving to? Is it more complex than before? Or is there more life
today than before? What is the measure of this evolution? At one time it
seemed as if life evolves from the smaller to the bigger until the dinosaurs
disappeared. The human is obviously more complex than a bacterium, nevertheless
unicellular organisms contribute significantly to the earth biomass. Since
they have obviously “evolved less” than us why are they still with us? Shouldn’t
they be replaced by the “more evolved”? Other disturbing thoughts were
published here previously
Let’s turn to a remarkable book , “The phenomenon of Life”
by Hans Jonas (1), for some new ideas on this issue. Throughout evolution
the higher depends on the lower. The “fittest” may still survive
as Neo-Darwinists claim, but depends more and more on the lower. According
to Jonas:” {There is a] dependence of each higher on the lower, [and a] retention
of the lower in the higher.
Life evolves within food chains. A food
chain is defined as: A succession of organisms in an ecological
community that constitutes a continuation of food energy from one organism
to another as each consumes a lower member and in turn is preyed upon by a
higher member. (Answers.com). At the origin
of the food chain are algae, cyanobacteria and plants, which polymerize organic
matter from inorganic molecules. Initially food chains consisted of cyanobacteria.
Then came algae and finally the plants. They paved the way for other organisms
which depend solely on organic matter. This is why evolution retains a “Dependence
of each higher on the lower”. Life (us) cannot exist without the lower.
The food chain may be regarded as an elementary process in a super organism
called Gaia, which is the set of all food chains on earth. Gaia is a web of
food chains. It is Gaia which is evolving and
we evolve in it. Yet where does Gaia evolve to? Jonas suggests that evolution
is a progressive freedom of action. This certainly applies to individual
organisms. The animal feeds on existing life, continuously destroys its mortal
supply and has to seek elsewhere for more. The appearance of directed long-range
motility thus signifies the emergence of freedom of action.
Freedom of action in the broader sense is a manifestation
of Gaia’s optimality. It may serve as an indicator where Gaia is heading to.
References
1. Hans Jonas The Phenomenon of Life- Toward a Philosophical Biology
Northwestern University Press Evanston Ill 2001