The Third Evolution: main characteristics (3/3)

Here we show how the Third Evolution shares many characteristics with the Second Evolution: the blindness, the randomness, the digital base, the unicity, the diversity, the role of the environment, the inheritance. Today we finish the grand tour with diversity, environment and inheritance.

Diversity and the role of the environment

Evolution occurs as a gradual adaptation between the diversity present in the system and the environment.
The rate of star formation in a galaxy (First Evolution) is likely to be related to its immediate environment (made up of other galaxies). Spiral galaxies are everywhere in the Universe, but they are all different. We continue to marvel at the different shapes of galaxies. No two galaxies are the same. We know that the interaction with the other galaxies shapes the galaxies. The environment of that galaxy is specific to that galaxy.

The M51 galaxy has been collided with another galaxy, NGC5195 (blue blob at top). This far-infrared image from the Herschel telescope shows (in blue) sites of star formation triggered by the collision. Each galaxy has its own specific history of environmental influences.

 

Bacteria can be of exactly the same species, but they all have slightly different shapes and contents. Ultimately, the origin of species is the response of the (Second) Evolution to different environments. Bats are adapted to see at night. Fish are adapted to the sea, and so on.

Brains may look the same, but we now know that the exact wiring has been produced as an interaction between the genetic code and the environment that people get throughout their lives. So there are no two identical brains, even in twins with the same genetic code. The diversity of human cultures is staggering. But we can see how the environment has been the main driving force of diversity. Olives are a central culinary item in Greece, not in Greenland!

Inheritance

Evolution is about gradual change. Spontaneous and instantaneous transitions do not occur. Every species comes from an ancestor, and this is true of the three evolutions. The tree of life seems to be a generic concept: galaxies are born from the agglomeration of smaller units. The genetic material of children comes from their parents. Ideas, concepts, memes, institutions can usually be traced back historically to previous ideas.

The Third Evolution: main characteristics (2/3)

Here we show how the Third Evolution shares many characteristics with the Second Evolution: blindness, randomness, digital basis, unicity, diversity, the role of the environment, inheritance. Today we will look at unicity.

The Unicity

The Universe (First Evolution) is unique. Wherever we observe the Universe, it looks statistically homogeneous. The laws of physics seem to apply everywhere: the transition levels of hydrogen are always the same wherever we measure them, except for the effects of light propagation (whether gravitational, such as lensing or redshift, or electromagnetic). The physical constants apply to the whole universe and are constant in time. At present, the best explanation we have is at the very beginning of the universe, when a period of inflation allowed all parts of the known Universe to be connected.

Life (Second Evolution) is unique. Every cell of a living organism uses the same DNA-based replication system. This may not have been the case in the beginning: there may have been an RNA-based system, or even a simpler one. But this has disappeared and there is only one form of life on Earth today.

The Third Evolution is carried by the human species. It is now established that Homo Sapiens (HS) is a unique species. For example, the close cousin Neanderthal species has disappeared. The human brain has emerged from the Second Evolution, but something different is now happening: problem solving is no longer left to the slow process of life-based tinkering evolution. Artifacts and writings are now spreading massively, outside of living organisms. They are produced by only one species: Homo Sapiens. Scientists have shown that HS is quite special, not in brain mass, but in the ratio of brain mass to total mass.

On that measurement rod, mice and dolphins fare as well as humans! An even better predictor of "intelligence" is now thought to be the fore-brain neuron count.

The Third Evolution: main characteristics (1/3)

Richard Dawkins made a convincing argument about the defining features of the Second Evolution. We will now demonstrate how the Third Evolution shares numerous characteristics with the Second Evolution. These include blindness, randomness, a digital base, uniqueness, diversity, the role of the environment and inheritance. Today, we will address the first three characteristics.

The Blindness

The evolution of life and the new third evolution serve no purpose. This was a devastating blow to the religions of the 19th century, as they had based their entire belief system on the existence of an omniscient supernatural being controlling everything on Earth. Darwin's Origin of Species was a significant blow to the idea that everything on Earth has a purpose. A bat is as useful as it is useless. It has no purpose. We are certain that the new evolution has no purpose. Let me be clear: no human being, nor any superbeing, is controlling the evolution carried by the human brain.

This notion is counterintuitive because we like to think we are in control. The directions and adaptations we see in living bodies and human brains seem clearly to have a purpose.

We assert that the majority of cultural evolution has occurred without any intent whatsoever. We will demonstrate this in future posts.

The Randomness

The randomness is at the heart of each of the three evolutions:

In the Universe, the fluctuations of the matter-energy density are produced during the inflation as Gaussian from quantum inherent noise. They will then grow linearly during the expansion of the Universe and eventually collapse when the Universe becomes transparent, and produce the large-scale Universe as we observe it today. So the initial conditions are random and, consequently, there are no twin galaxies in the Universe.

Each of the three evolutions is defined by randomness.

The fluctuations of the matter-energy density in the Universe are produced during inflation as Gaussian from quantum inherent noise. They will then grow linearly during the expansion of the Universe and eventually collapse when the Universe becomes transparent, producing the large-scale Universe as we observe it today. The initial conditions are random, so there are no twin galaxies in the Universe.

Biological evolution is also devoid of any intrinsic purpose. It is the relentless trial and error of genetics that has made life as we observe it today. The primary source of fluctuations in genetics is either cosmic rays or viruses. These rare failures of perfect reproduction from one genome to the next are the main source of genetic variation. Cosmic rays are the link between the randomness on Earth and space. Viruses are a unique and challenging entity for biologists to classify. They are clearly parasites with RNA, so they are part of the living "stuff". There are multiple sources of randomness at play here. The environment in which living organisms evolve (basically on Earth) is highly fluctuating and far from thermodynamic equilibrium. Other species influence a given species. They can make it thrive or they can make it die.

This essay puts forward the bold hypothesis that the source of new ideas is simply randomness in our brains. We can be sure that what comes out has been filtered by our sense of reason and emotions. But at the source of ideas, what else could be on the table but some random stroke of genius in isolated brains?

The digital base

The Mendeleev periodic table contains a definitive list of about a hundred different kinds of atoms that can exist in the Universe. That's all there is to it. Each atom has a given, discrete number of electrons. Hydrogen is number one. Helium two. Lithium is number three. And so on.

The genetic information is coded in the DNA, which is stored in the nucleus of almost all living cells. DNA is a long code made up of only four letters.

This is the basis of the Third Evolution. It is indisputable that the 6,000 languages spoken on Earth form part of the code through which information is transmitted between human beings. Languages are made up of a finite number of letters or ideograms. The simplicity of the building blocks allows for an infinite number of combinations.

Evolution can only work through discrete coding systems. This is the only way to avoid the inexorable averaging process, which is encoded in the Gaussian limit theorem.