Just found this in the internet version of science tabloids which highlights an important new paper originally published last October in the prestigious Proceedings of the Natural Academy of Science {PNAS). If anti-science religious fundamentalists thought they had a problem with Darwinian Evolution before, this groundbreaking paper is really going to amp up their anxieties.
It was authored 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. Quoting from their introduction:
The universe is replete with complex evolving systems, but the existing macroscopic physical laws do not seem to adequately describe these systems. Recognizing that the identification of conceptual equivalencies among disparate phenomena were foundational to developing previous laws of nature, we approach a potential “missing law” by looking for equivalencies among 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 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 the functional information of a system will increase over time when subjected to selection for function(s).
While the entire paper is well worth a read (it’s not too full of highly technical jargon and requires no advanced mathematics to comprehend), I’ll include some of the more quotable reviews from the above Indy 100 piece regarding this proposed new Law of Increasing Functional Information:
A group of scientists and philosophers claim to have identified a “missing law of nature”, in a discovery which has huge implications for our understanding of how, basically, everything works.
Most of us are familiar with the names – if not the intricacies – of many of the physical laws which govern the world and beyond, such as gravity and thermodynamics.
And yet, no established physical law has been able to describe the behaviours of countless complex systems that exist across the universe – until now.
…
In a nutshell, their law states that evolution is not limited to life on Earth, it also occurs in other massively complex systems – from planets to atoms.
This means that these systems naturally “evolve” to states of greater diversity, and complexity… which comprise the following characteristics:
- “They are formed from many different components, such as atoms, molecules, or cells, that can be arranged and rearranged repeatedly.”
- They are subject to “natural processes that cause countless different configurations to be formed.”
- And only a small fraction of these configurations survive via a process of natural selection called “selection for function”.
According to the researchers, regardless of whether the system is living or nonliving, when a new configuration works and function improves, evolution occurs.
…
“An important component of this proposed natural law is the idea of ‘selection for function,'” the study’s lead author, astrobiologist Dr Michael L. Wong, explained.
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 to the existence of three types of this selection for function in nature.
The first, most basic type, they claim, is stability – the stable arrangements of atoms or molecules which are selected to continue.
The second consists of dynamic systems which are selected for their ongoing supplies of energy.
And the third, and most intriguing, function is “novelty” – the tendency of evolving systems to explore new configurations which can lead to surprising new behaviours or characteristics.
Novelties of course are nothing new when it comes to the evolution of life from the simplest one-celled organisms through multicellular lifeforms as those cells ‘learned’ to cooperate with one another and new species evolved thanks to advantageous new behaviors such as swimming, walking, flying, and thinking.
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Likewise, this team expanded on the concept of Darwinian Evolution in biology to include not just geology (Earth’s minerals, which began with only about 20 at the dawn of our solar system 4.5 billion years ago, now number almost 6,000 known today thanks to ever more complex physical, chemical, and ultimately biological processes over those eons), but cosmology as well as the universe evolved from the primordial mix of hydrogen and helium resulting from the initial Big Bang to synthesize 20 additional elements in the first generation of stars, and nearly 100 additional elements that now populate our Periodic Table in succeeding stellar generations.
Some additional quotes from an earlier pyhsics.org review. Equating Darwinian Evolution to Einstein’s Special Relativity within the context of his broader theory of General Realtivity:
“We contend that Darwinian theory is just a very special, very important case within a far larger natural phenomenon. The notion that selection for function drives evolution applies equally to stars, atoms, minerals, and many other conceptually equivalent situations where many configurations are subjected to selective pressure.”
…
“The universe generates novel combinations of atoms, molecules, cells, etc. Those combinations that are stable and can go on to engender 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 concluding quote:
The new law has a number of exciting implications, including a deeper understanding of how the Universe itself came to exist.
It could also help explain how life differs from other complex evolving systems, and could help aid the search for life elsewhere.
Furthermore, at a time when increasingly autonomous AI systems are of increasing concern, it’s very handy to have a law that characterises how both natural and symbolic systems evolve.
It also offers insights into how we could artificially influence the rate of evolution of some systems which, again, could prove invaluable.
The key point to remember, as Dr Wong put it, is that whilst life is the “most striking example of evolution”, it’s not the only one.
Evolution, it transpires, is everywhere.
This post was originally published on 3rd party site mentioned in the title this site