Organisms don't evolve for a purpose.

so, as we know, all organisms evolve for the purpose of assisting the longlivety of a species. a creature may develop night vision through evolution [mutations] that will give the species a leg up in life and perhaps enough of an edge to keep the species around for longer.

my thought is this; why are we and every other species trying to extend their lives? what's the point? why go through all the effort to evolve those wings, or, extra leg or antenae? if species are trying to hang in there for as long as possible, they must be waiting for something, or, trying to get to some type of end. is this a hint that life is some type of race or event where we have to survive/hang on as long as possible until the end?

thoughts?

darwin thinks they do.

This may come as a surprise, but no one who actively publishes evolutionary biology articles actually cites Darwin anymore. Darwin did not know the mechanism behind evolution, because a related field called genetics had not yet been developed. You cannot understand evolution without understanding genetics -- and if you understand genetics then you would never think that evolution is teleological.

Hi there,

Camus poses the same question in his essay The Myth of Sisyphus. Sisyphus us forever laden with the task of rolling a rock up a mountain, only to have it roll down again. The absurdity of life. Camus begins by suggesting that Life is inherently absurd. He goes through a pretty long-winded essay, which I have always thought was more verbiage than ideas, but ends on a pretty interesting note:


"He too [Sisyphus] concludes that all is well. This universe henceforth without a master seems to him neither sterile nor futile. Each atom of that stone, each mineral flake of that night filled mountain, in itself forms a world. The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy."


For me, I borrow from the works of Itzhak Bentov. That we are an evolving Consciousness (Soul) that is exploring and learning about all that is around us. Why? Because it amuses us, just as it amuses us as babies to play peek-a-boo and as children, hide-and-seek.

Heraclitus said:


[CENTER]Nature loves to hide itself.

It is amusing.

Rich

this post rocks
[/CENTER]

are you talking about genetic mutation, which is the process of evolution?

Sort of, insofar as mutations are one of several means by which an allele can change. But I'd describe what I'm talking about more as population-based changes in allele frequency as a function of time, which is more fundamentally THE genetic unit of evolution.

so, as we know, all organisms evolve for the purpose of assisting the longlivety of a species. a creature may develop night vision through evolution [mutations] that will give the species a leg up in life and perhaps enough of an edge to keep the species around for longer.

my thought is this; why are we and every other species trying to extend their lives? what's the point? why go through all the effort to evolve those wings, or, extra leg or antenae? if species are trying to hang in there for as long as possible, they must be waiting for something, or, trying to get to some type of end. is this a hint that life is some type of race or event where we have to survive/hang on as long as possible until the end?

thoughts?

if it is accidental it would be like your crt television breaking down after 15-years but the next time it is turned on it is better than a hi-def plasma tv.

The scientific view of evolution is ateleological.

we and all other species struggle against all odds to survive.

we can accept that we try to survive in order to pass on our seed [genes].

what is the point of struggling to pass on our genes?

Not really, we don't. We eat because we feel hungry, we try to avoid death because we don't want to die, we have children either because we have had the urge to have sex OR we as couples decide it's what we want for our lives.

But what we're NOT doing as individual members of a species are struggling for the survival of our species. Survival either happens or it doesn't based on whether our biological survival is compatible with the prevailing conditions.

When have you ever made a decision with that in mind? When has a mouse, a salamander, a paramecium, or a spirochete ever done something with that in mind?

Great thread


Why do some people not do this?

And if this were the core mechanism, then why not go jump off a cliff after the deed is done?
Especially an old woman who is no longer fertile.
She should then kill her husband (so that he does not fertilize other women and diminish her offspring's chance of survival)
and then leave everything to her offspring.

She should then kill her husband (so that he does not fertilize other women and diminish her offspring's chance of survival)

What is so great about genes surviving anyhow?
Why should anyone care?

darwin thinks they do.

if it is accidental it would be like your crt television breaking down after 15-years but the next time it is turned on it is better than a hi-def plasma tv.

But why do we want to pass on our genes?

Why do some people not do this?

And if this were the core mechanism, then why not go jump off a cliff after the deed is done?
Especially an old woman who is no longer fertile.

She should then kill her husband (so that he does not fertilize other women and diminish her offspring's chance of survival)
and then leave everything to her offspring.

our genes don't care whether we kill other people, as, the strongest and smartest and most ruthless will survive - thus leading to the "better" genes [for survival] being passed on.

why are we trying so hard to survive? the only reason would be that we are trying to reach an end goal, but, what is that goal?

why do you eat when you are hungry?