The evolution versus creation controversy
If I remember rightly, the story of creation in the Bible seemed easily understandable the first time I heard of it as a child. In contrast, Darwinian evolution – which may be seen as an alternative more detailed story of creation – is tremendously complex, and can’t be fully understood by anyone. So, from a pedagogical point of view, making evolution more credible and familiar to a general public is a difficult task, because even the easiest model requires at least some mathematics.
This web site is an attempt to overcome some of the ordinary obstacles by the aid of pop-scientific outlines readable by the layman. The meaning of evolution-in-a-nutshell will be short outlines on the efficiency of random search processes by texts and simple figures. It also means that the same model is used for both the evolution of phenotypes and the evolution of signal patterns in our nervous system.
For the scientist there will be mathematical support of the theory on both high school and university level.
One ordinary obstacle seems to be the distrust of randomness. It is hard to believe that evolution as a random search process can be of any good. A common view seems to be that it is hopelessly inefficient and unable to create the order and information apparent in the biological sphere. In fact, the main result of randomness is disorder in agreement with a well known law of nature; the second law of thermodynamics (entropy law).
For a start, let us look at the efficient solution of a difficult combinatory problem by simple random search using the evolutionary principles of random variation and selection in cyclic repetition ; The traveling salesman problem (click on the traveling salesman). See also Goldberg, 1989, in references.
The site is organized in the following way: The first three chapters are pop-scientific. Some knowledge of the normal distribution (the bell curve) as well as its mean and variance is an advantage. Chapters four and five are applications of information theory to evolution and requires previous mathematical training at high school level. The last chapters gives additional mathematical support of the former and requires previous mathematical training at university level.
In the section about my background the evolution-in-a-nutshell story will continue by links showing examples of random search solving parametric problems and the alternative theory. In this case a living organism is supposed to be described by morphological parameters or characters such as for instance the length of a bone, the distance between the pupils, the capacity of the kidneys or even the IQ.
Contents; click on the colored parts of the headlines
1 introduction
The traveling salesman; an example of combinatory random search.
About my background; and an example of random search in a parameter space.
Creationism and the order in nature; a common misunderstanding of disorder and biological diversity.
Science and faith; science to support the freedom of religion but not any kind of fundamentalism.
The unit of selection; a discussion on the selection of individuals rather than genes.
Egoism; on egoism and collectivism.
2 Part 1, Climbing a phenotypic-landscape
2.1 The phenotypic landscape
2.2 An enormous complexity
2.3 An ambition to find higher peaks
2.4 The distribution of parameters in a large population
2.5 How to climb a mountain
2 Part 2, The evolution in the brain
2.6 The evolution of signal patterns in the brain
2.7 Neural networks
2.8 Signal patterns
2.10 Random search in many dimensions
2.11 Summary
3.1 Human dignity and survival value
3.2 Free will
3.3 Conflict and reconciliation
4 Disorder, information and biological diversity; high school level
Definition 4.1.
4.1 The mean value of information; university level?
Definition 4.2.
Definition 4.3.
Theorem 4.1.
Definitions 4.4
4.2 Disorder and biological diversity
5 On the efficiency of random search; high school level
Definition 5.1.
Theorem 5.1.
Theorem 5.2.
6 Normal (Gaussian) adaptation; mathematical support; university level
6.1 Normal adaptation in one parameter; high school level
Definition 6.1
Definition 6.2
6.2 Normal adaptation in many parameters; university level
Definitions 6.3 to 6.9
6.2.1 The theorems of normal adaptation
Theorems 6.2.1 to 6.2.4
7 Simulation of normal adapation; university level
8 Fisher's fundamental theorem of natural selection and Gaussian adaptation
Summary
The consequences of this alternative outline on evolution are in short:
There is no reason to distrust random search processes. There is a duality between fitness and disorder/information which is not apparent from the fundamental theorem of biology due to Fisher (1930).
A gene may be a unit of selection, but – according to Mayr (see references) - evolution is ruled by selection on the individual level – which is the important thing when considering the direction of evolution. Therefore, models based on individual selection should not be ignored by science.
The order in nature - created by evolution - is an illusion. It may equally well be seen as a restricted disorder according to the laws of nature in analogy to the cold/warmth duality. In fact there is no cold, only restricted warmth.
Modern science and mathematics supports the freedom of religion but not any kind of fundamentalism.
According to our evolution-in-a-nutshell model evolution possesses strong forces in favour of the collective. Egoism is not a law of nature, which is unfortunately a wide spread opinion.
Random search - as for instance in our nervous system - may give a freedom of choise at a certain probability, but the will of such a process is only illusive. So there is no free will. And all humans have equal dignity.
See also about seven theorems in control of evolution.
Lincs
