I just found this in the internet’s version of science tabloids, highlighting an important new article originally published in the prestigious journal last October Proceedings of the Natural Academy of Sciencee {PNAS). If anti-science religious fundamentalists previously thought they had a problem with Darwinian evolution, this groundbreaking article will really add to their concerns.
It was written by a nine-member team – scientists from the Carnegie Institution for Science, the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and Cornell University, and philosophers from the University of Colorado, and included two astrobiologists, a data scientist, a mineralogist and a theoretical physicist, as well as three philosophers of science. Quote from their introduction:
The universe is full of complex evolving systems, but the existing macroscopic laws of physics do not seem to adequately describe these systems. Recognizing that the identification of conceptual equivalence between disparate phenomena was fundamental to the development of previous laws of nature, we approach a potential ‘missing law’ by searching for equivalence between evolving systems. We suggest that all evolving systems – including but not limited to life – are composed of diverse components that can combine into configurational states that are then selected for or against based on their function. We then identify the fundamental sources of selection—static persistence, dynamic persistence, and novelty generation—and propose a time-asymmetric law that states that a system’s functional information will increase over time when subjected to selection by function(s).
While the entire article is certainly worth reading (it’s not overly full of highly technical jargon and doesn’t require advanced math to understand), I’ll include some of the more quotable reviews from the above Indy 100 piece on this proposed new article. Law of increasing functional information:
a A group of scientists and philosophers claim to have identified a ‘missing law of nature’, in a discovery that has huge implications for our understanding of how essentially everything works.
Most of us are familiar with the names – if not the intricacies – of many of the physical laws that govern the world and beyond, such as gravity and thermodynamics.
And yet, until now, no established law of physics has been able to describe the behavior of countless complex systems that exist throughout the universe.
…
In a nutshell, their law states that evolution is not limited to life on Earth, but also occurs in other enormously complex systems – from planets to atoms.
This means that these systems naturally ‘evolve’ into states of greater diversity and complexity… which include the following characteristics:
- “They are formed from many different components, such as atoms, molecules or cells, which can be repeatedly arranged and rearranged.”
- They are subject to ‘natural processes that cause countless different configurations to be formed’.
- And only a small fraction of these configurations survive through a process of natural selection called “selection by function.”
According to the researchers, regardless of whether the system is living or non-living, evolution occurs when a new configuration works and improves function.
…
“A key part of this proposed law of nature is the idea of ’selection by function,'” explains the study’s lead author, astrobiologist Dr. Michael L. Wong.
The team’s research builds on Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection, which suggests that the function exists to ensure the ‘survival of the fittest’.
For their work, Dr. Wong and his team expanded on this perspective, pointing out the existence of three types of this selection for function in nature.
The first, most basic type, they argue, is stability – the stable arrangement of atoms or molecules selected to continue.
The second consists of dynamic systems selected based on their continuous energy supply.
And the third and most intriguing feature is ‘novelty’: the tendency of evolving systems to explore new configurations that can lead to surprising new behavior or characteristics.
Novelties, of course, are nothing new when it comes to the evolution of life, from the simplest single-celled organisms to multicellular life forms, as those cells “learned” to cooperate with each other and take on new forms. species have evolved thanks to beneficial new behaviors such as swimming, walking, flying and thinking.
Likewise, this team expanded the concept of Darwinian evolution in biology to include not just geology (Earth’s minerals, which started with only about 20 4.5 billion years ago at the beginning of our solar system, are now almost 6,000 known thanks to more and more minerals). complex physical, chemical, and ultimately biological processes over those centuries), but both cosmology and the universe evolved from the original mix of hydrogen and helium resulting from the initial Big Bang to synthesize twenty additional elements in the first generation of stars, and nearly 100 additional elements that now populate our periodic table in successive generations of stars.
Some additional quotes from an earlier pyhsics.org review. Equating Darwinian evolution with Einstein’s special theory of relativity within the context of his broader theory of general reality:
‘We argue that the Darwinian theory is just a very special, very important case within a much larger natural phenomenon. The idea that selection by function drives evolution applies equally to stars, atoms, minerals, and many other conceptually equivalent situations in which many configurations are subjected. selective pressure.”
…
“The universe generates new combinations of atoms, molecules, cells, etc. Those combinations that are stable and can produce even more novelty will continue to evolve. This is what makes life the most striking example of evolution, but evolution is everywhere. .”
And back to the Indy 100 piece for a closing quote:
The new law has a number of exciting implications, including a deeper understanding of how the universe itself came into being.
It could also help explain how life differs from other complex evolving systems, and could aid the search for life elsewhere.
Moreover, at a time when increasingly autonomous AI systems are causing increasing concern, it is very useful to have a law that characterizes how both natural and symbolic systems evolve.
It also provides insights into how we can artificially influence the rate of evolution of some systems, which again could be invaluable.
The key point to remember is, as Dr. Wong put it, that while life is the “most striking example of evolution,” it is not the only one.
Evolution, it turns out, is everywhere.