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Essay / The role of natural selection in Darwin's theory of evolution
The term natural selection was coined by Charles Darwin in the 19th century. It is the result of evolution that began with the creation of a variety of different species that evolved and expanded over time. Species adapted through their traits and reproduced, passing on their genes to spread to others and improve their species. As it is called a connotation with natural selection, the term "survival of the fittest" is closely related to the idea of the selection process. It is thanks to our heritage and our domination and superiority over other species to survive that has allowed some to be the best. All species must fight to survive so that they can pass on their genes through reproduction. Much of this topic is what I will discuss throughout this essay. I will discuss the constitutions surrounding Darwin's theory of evolution and the extent to which natural selection plays an important role in establishing this process. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essayThe importance of natural selection plays a role in determining how we live and how we should behave. This involves much of the nature and nurture debate about what we inherit and how we adapt to our environment, for example. As we are born, we grow and develop. Natural selection is therefore a gradual process that is calculated over time. In some ways we can't escape it and some would say we don't really have a choice. As I mentioned, the event of evolution was the beginning of natural selection. However, much of the concept of adaptation and the terms surrounding it explain natural selection. Mainly because we were formed through this process, we created or were born with idealistic attributes to aid in survival and to compete as a member of a species. Godrey designed three types of adaptation. These are: explanatory adaptationism, empirical adaptationism and methodological adaptationism. Darwin's ideas were widely accepted by biologists after the publication of his book "On the Origin of Species" in 1859, in which he was accepted by them because he supported scientific knowledge. The theory of natural selection was co-created by Darwin and Wallace who encouraged the writing of this book. This term is based on how organisms are specified to closely match the environment in which they live. An example of this would be a polar bear created with fur and grown most often in extremely cold climates in countries like Antarctica. Natural selection resolves this question and we are all selected to be created in a certain way and placed in an environment to which we adapt. The notion of Natural Selection is present everywhere so it is powerful. The term Adaptation is actually a key element of Natural Selection. It is based on the attributes that contribute to the survival of the organism. The way it is built, trained and how it behaves determines whether it is able to survive in its environment. Additionally, as it evolves over time, the traits it develops are an important point for adaptation. Adaptive is not the same as adaptation, rather it is about how you can adapt to this environment with its current physical form. As Stephen J. Gould discouraged this, he coined the termExaptation which suggests that the fitness of groups of species was not initially selected for by natural selection although it is favorable to selection. They have parts of their anatomy that were created for different functions. For example, according to Gould, a bird's feathers are initially seen as a feature for insulating purposes rather than used for flight. “What the example of feathers shows us is that exaptation is in no way an isolated movement, since it is both preceded and followed by an adaptation, nor a one-off event, like Post-exaptation adaptation can lead to subsequent exaptation. Some attributes do not always imply that they are part of evolution - a process of development simply because they appear fitter because they might actually be known for various functions. Most of the ideas surrounding adaptationism arise from concerns related to philosophy. The reason species exist and our selection process may be due to intelligent design. Darwin's ideas are similar to William Paley's clock analogy. The concept of “telos,” meaning end or purpose, implies that we are created for a reason and that we have a designer rather than a selection process. This amounts to a supernatural creator who, from a philosophical point of view, would be God. The complexity of the universe can be supported by science. However, “more controversial is the claim that apparent design has a special status as a biological phenomenon. A crucial point here is that selection can be of such central importance even if it is rare. The article on adaptation as referenced discusses views relating to whether, through adaptation, natural selection causes many of the effects involved in the world. Instead, natural selection must surpass this idea and be of much greater importance. The resulting constraints will be discussed later in this essay. Much of the concept of Telos leads us to question whether evolution is teleological. An organic world is known to have come into existence inorganically using the term "ex nihilio", meaning that creation was made literally from nothing. However, thanks to atoms, neurons, etc., we are transformed into matter to form organic matter. Mammals evolved from non-mammalian ancestors, so nothing was discovered naturally. For evolution to work, we need three aspects: variation, reproduction and heritability. Darwin initially based his theory on the fixity of species, but later modified his argument in favor of transmutation, also known as evolution. The Malthusian lens is based on the struggle for existence which means limited resources therefore favorable variations propagated by breeding to stay alive. Individuals of each species must all be different, otherwise if we were all equal, evolution would not work. Darwin used survival of the fitter after adopting it from Spencer. We must all have a distinction between us because there must be a struggle for existence according to Malthus. Therefore, according to Spencer, there must be a struggle for existence. This concept was developed by Spencer who recognized that there had to be a "survival of the fittest", meaning that the strongest and best genes would survive. His main views concerned socio-biological progress. For him “all species tended towards a population equilibrium in which the capacity of the individual to survive and the slightest need for reproduction were reduced. For the specieshuman, Spencer diagnosed a temporary imbalance, the power of reproduction being greater than what was required given the progress made in social individuation. The struggle for existence, based on social terms, will imply that the demands of society become a problem. There won't be enough to go around and the growing population will eventually shrink and disappear. Those who survive will be the best individuals physically – the best genes. According to Darwin, we engage in a process of progression and development that is axiological. Things seem to be improving. What Darwin called a “warm little pond” is where all species originated. It is remarkable that humans develop from this to come up with a theory such as evolution. However, he believes that we cannot forget our origins but that there are certain types of progress. There is no telos and our life develops according to the demands of the environment of which we are a part. This is because it is a struggle for survival and therefore we must develop. Julian Huxley presents a critique of the notion that "a man is greater than a worm." Just because a man has the ability to think and is above everyone in the chain of being, man still possesses similar traits to other species. For example, the eye of an octopus is identical to the human eye. It contains a retina, lens and cornea, meaning species can intercept features and are not as different as we think. Huxley deciphers the complexities between races. We are all like species adapted to a particular environment according to him, so we cannot conclude that man is the best race when an animal is better adapted to its environment. Their complexities are not as complex as those of another species, because the complexities themselves are complex. Furthermore, Huxley argues that it is not necessary for better genes to survive longer. Simple organisms have survived and continue to survive. Darwin extends his view by suggesting that evolution is a slow process and that we must progress in small steps. We need to know something is changing to be able to notice it. Otherwise, our perspective would be eliminated if everything was constantly changing. As I briefly mentioned before, Gould plays an important role in natural selection. He thought it was an important, but not the most significant, feature of evolution. He devised the theory of punctuated equilibrium which posed a challenge to Darwin's theory of evolution. It affirms the idea that evolution is not coherent and that it goes through uncertain changes. Written with Niles Eldrege, Evolution goes through various patterns and interruptions. This implies that a new species may come from an environment where it must adapt to change. This raises questions about how adaptation works, particularly if a species were to migrate to a different environment where it would have to adapt to a new location. According to the fossil record, there is no particular modification because there is no continuing effect of evolution. Instead, there are periods of stability. Gould believes that any sign of progress in nature is "really a random movement away from simple beginnings, not a momentum directed toward intrinsically advantageous complexity." We all have complexities in some ways, but we cannot afford to learn the same way or be born with identical traits, which means we will all disappear. Morris creates an argument based on this idea that the complexity of our brains converges at.