(April 2, 2009 at 6:57 am)allan175 Wrote:atrasicarius Wrote:Also, as I said before, increasing complexity is just a side effect of evolution. The primary idea of evolution is that the better adapted a species is to its environment, the more likely it is to survive.This line caught my eye in the debate forum.
I've just recently finished reading "Life's Grandeur" by Stephen Jay Gould.
It was quite interesting and, I think, showed that increasing complexity is not actually a side effect of evolution at all! It did drag a bit in places (there is a lot about baseball in there) but on the whole I quite enjoyed it.
I suppose it depends somewhat on your definition of complexity (something we've discussed at length before, so won't do here :p ).
In general though, I think complexity may increase or decrease, whichever makes the organism more likely to survive.
Galileo was a man of science oppressed by the irrational and superstitious. Today, he is used by the irrational and superstitious who claim they are being oppressed by science - Mark Crislip
