In the last 30 years, the various mechanisms of evolution have been expanded upon greatly via the ever-growing field of Universal Darwinism. Also known as the theory of universal selection, Universal Darwinism further clarifies the devices responsible for all such evolution, for it has revealed their true inner-workings as defined in physics itself.
In short, Universal Darwinism proposes that, with one minor correction, the three basic mechanisms set forth by Darwin himself can explain the evolution of not only species but all natural phenomena. Under Darwin, these devices are: reproduction, variation, and selection. Basically, it is through reproduction that variation arises among lineages, and the most stable of these variants are naturallyselected, or preserved. This is known as Darwin’s evolutionary algorithm, and it has proven to be extremely accurate throughout all of biology.
The Fundamental Mechanisms of Evolution
At its foundations, however, the cyclical activity involved in reproduction is not entirely unique, as all of nature’s many systems are cyclical. Reproduction can thus be reduced to, or further generalized as, ordinary iteration. It is of course the goal of science to reduce laws and other principles to their most rudimentary forms, and reducing reproduction to iteration is of no exception. In fact, reproduction is merely one example of iterative behavior in a universe that is utterly filled with cyclical activity.
The variation which then arises among nature’s many systems is explained through modifications in not only their cyclical behavior but their resulting structure to add. Differentiation among particles, for example, is illustrated by the standard model of physics. Variation among atoms is illustrated by the natural chart of elements. Planets, on the other hand, are classified according to four main types: terrestrial, gas giants, ice giants, and dwarf planets. Moreover, stars are classified according to the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram. And Edwin Hubble classified the four different types of galaxies: elliptical, spiral, spiral barred and irregular. Like species then, there is great diversity among natural phenomena, all of which is a product of their own innate cyclical activity and resulting structure.
To then address natural selection, the fundamental mechanisms here are survival of the fittest and elimination of the weak, both of which Darwin showed to be entirely cumulative over generations. In accord with Universal Darwinism, however, it soon becomes apparent that these devices can be generalized as ‘survival of the fittest systems’ and ‘elimination of the weakest systems.’
Because all natural phenomena interact, each is subject to competition. Everything from particles to galaxies can collide and even destroy one another, and here too the effects are entirely cumulative over time. Cycle after cycle, or generation after generation, survival of the fittest and elimination of the weak forever hone systems. This results in the cumulative refinement of every type of phenomena that has ever been or will be.
As further evidence of this, adaptation too occurs even outside of biology. It arises via adaptive regulatory control, or negative feedback, which allows systems to maintain stability even in the face of change. Interstellar clouds, for example, form stars when the cloud is cold. Once the stars warm the region, however, star formation switches off. After the stars burn out, the region once again grows cold and the process can begin again. As one of the most ardent proponents of Universal Darwinism, naturalist D. B. Kelley has demonstrated in his ground-breaking work The Origin of Phenomena that these types of switches exist throughout all of nature, regulating—or stabilizing—the cyclical activity of every phenomenon.
However surprising to many, information retention too is present even outside of life. In other words, genes aren’t the only things in nature that both retain and perpetuate information. As shown by physicist John Wheeler, “Everything is information.” This applies not only to natural phenomena and their structures but to their properties as well. Particles, atoms, and molecules, for example, all have different properties, each of which conveys different information. So not only does, say, a molecule contain information about every part of its structure and composition, but it also contains information about its emergent properties. These can range from solubility and insolubility to solidity, rigidity, conductivity, alkalinity, polarity, and more. In short, these properties especially are both communicative and informative, posing specific effects upon other such systems.
Another influential mechanism in the evolution of systems both living and nonliving is entropy reduction. This involves the reduction of chaos, or disorderliness itself. In short, the more disorder is reduced in a system, the more its order increases. Biologists have known, for example, that anytime a new and beneficial adaptation arises among species, entropy is reduced for the lineage at hand. Also, Kelley has demonstrated that as entropy falls the number of surviving offspring increases, making the new lineage more stable in this regard as well. He has thus shown that the best way to measure the stability, or orderliness, of a system is to first measure how much disorder itself has been reduced.
To provide a non-biological example, as a solar system forms and its several hundred orbiting bodies, or oligarchs, merge to form a small number of planets, entropy decreases as the probability of collisions naturally goes down. Because the population of oligarchs is reduced through accretion, or agglomeration, there is less likelihood of such collisions occurring between them. In other words yet, fewer numbers of gravitational bodies means less opportunity for devastation among them. Consequently, entropy—i.e., disorder—is reduced greatly. Survival of the fittest gravitational bodies and elimination of the weakest have both prevailed, leading to a small number of larger, more stable bodies. Thus, even solar system formation is in perfect accord not only with these mechanisms but with the age-old proverb Ordo ab chao, or “order from chaos.”
It should then be clear that there are several fundamental mechanisms at work throughout evolution both biological and non-. Although biologists have known for many decades that each of these devices is operative in life, evolutionary theorists had yet to apply them to the evolution of our cosmos at large. They had yet to realize that iteration, variation, selection, information retention, adaptive regulatory control, and entropy reduction together explain the very origins behind all natural phenomena. These mechanisms of evolution expound upon not only the stability but the furthered refinement of every last system in nature. In sum then, when observing such systems not only do we find all of the same means that we do in biology, but we find all of the same ends—such as stability, order, evolution, self-organization, and even progression.
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