Darwinian evolution is the process, which guides and maintains life on the Earth. It is a natural way to modify life forms to adapt to th...
Darwinian evolution is the process, which guides and maintains life on the Earth. It is a natural way to modify life forms to adapt to the changing environment. The random change in the blueprint of the life, i.e. the non-directed modification in the genetic code, and the selection, which made by the environment based on the fitness of the modified system to the actual circumstances let the Darwinian type evolution be the method, which was, and, which is able to maintain the flora and fauna, the complex life system on the Earth.
Indisputable, the Darwinian evolution is the only natural process, which can sustain life on the Earth. We don't know how life started, but we know, Darwinian evolution is capable of maintaining the system of life. Ultimately, its product is the intelligent life of ours.
We are getting to understand its processes, and we even started to utilize its method to achieve our goals. We started a new class of evolution by directing it. It is not Darwinian anymore, as it is not based on random or non-directed changes in the blueprint, yet, it still depends on the (more and more artificially guided) selection of the fittest. We, the conscious intelligence started a new kind of evolution, started the directed evolution.
The human race is less and less under the control of the Darwinian evolution, and more and more under the influence of this directed evolution. It will become the determining process providing the development of the human race and maintain continuous evolution for us.
We are still under the Darwinian evolution. We might think, the development of medicine already started this new class of evolution. We do not die in sicknesses anymore what was fatal before. We live longer because of the development of medical science. However, this is not the directed evolution. We are still under the Darwinian evolution because only the environment, the selection effect changed, but the process, which changes the genetic code, remained unaffected. Our head circumference is growing because the more often used cesarean section. It is still Darwinian evolution because the change is based on the original, natural modification processes of the genetic code, only the (artificially created) environment changed, allowing to be born with a bigger head.
However, the new kind, the non-Darwinian, the directed evolution is started already too. We are able to manipulate the genetic code, and we are doing it more and more competently. This development started recently and the societal resistance against the artificially designed inheritable new properties in the living organism is strong. It is unknown how society will resolve this challenge. As our competency grows, the resistance probably will shrink. However, we must notice, the new kind of evolution, the directed evolution is not limited to the biological-based systems. We are biological, but our evolution is not necessarily remaining biological too.
One direction of this non-biological evolution (which must be a directed evolution) is the cyborg-path. We are on the development of creating more and more non-biological extensions. The biology-based Darwinian evolution would never be able to create those abilities with we can enhance our capabilities to adapt to the different or changing environments. The cyborg-path is not just replacing our lost or failing organs. It is a directed evolution to adapt ourselves to the changing environment. A spaceship is such a kind of cyborg-way adaptation, a directed evolution to a changing environment. It is evolution because adapts us to the environment, and it is inherited. The inheritance happens not by the genetic code, but by the transferred knowledge from generation to generation.
The directed evolution, which leads to the non-biological evolution, is a classical type of evolution as it is an adaptation process to the environment. It is non-Darwinian evolution because it is not based on randomness, even if the new knowledge sometimes acquired by chance. Yet, the directed evolution resembles classical evolution, as it has no goal to reach. It might have actual tasks to accomplish, still, it has no final stage. Additionally, it possesses the ability also, to collect information, similar to biological evolution.
Moreover, it has an important feature that Darwinian evolution has. It is capable of creating new species.
Not always easy to separate species in continuous evolution, but there is a golden rule. Two species are different if they cannot breed with each other, but they can reproduce their own conspecific members. The directed evolution tends toward this path. As our knowledge grows in the field of the genetic code, ultimately we will be able to create new species biologically by directed evolution. This might be helpful to us to enhance our life fulfilling a task with these creatures. However, the non-biological directed evolution is a more prominent future for us. It would free up us from the biological boundaries and could open new perspectives.
And the non-biological directed evolution can create new species too. The development of artificial intelligence, automation, mechatronics ultimately will lead to creating self-replicating, environment adaptable systems. These systems can possess and carry all the criteria of a living system has, including evolution. If they can carry on the ability of the directed evolution, their evolution would not rely on the random variation. The speed of this kind of evolution is exponential. The requirement for the system to carry directed evolution is to possess the will and/or curiosity. These properties can be modeled in non-biological systems as well.
The evolution of these systems would allow adapting life to a broader environment and could spread conscious intelligence in the whole universe. The directed evolution is a new class in evolution. It is the evolution of the highly developed intelligent life. It is our continuum.
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