Re: On a proposal to make a correction to Wikipedia's definition of "Evolution".


I know that environmental conditions don't have a direct impact on
variation or mutation, which in certain sense have a randomness
component.

In this sense, it is appropriate that we wonder about mutating ,
varying or changing capacity of living organisms itself , as a
specific biological capacity regardless the environment , and
regardless the fact that environment will have the last word and will
select only some mutations .

A classical conception would lean on the idea that environment causes
variations or mutations , insofar as it leans on the idea that
variations or mutations are oriented to environmental
(re)adaptation .

But , without denying this , we know it's not that simple , because we
don't see a simple connection between environment and mutations or
variations . There must be a way how environment influences
variations , but it is truly complex and indirect . Perhaps it would
be also appropriate here to wonder : how should we define
"environment" ? But this is only one of many necessary questions.

When I see how primates have developed their extremities for grabbing
the branches and adapting to arboreal life, how dolphings have
adjusted the shape of their bodies for optimal movement in water , or
how cheetah have developed their extremities for optimal movements on
terrestrial surface , I see there's a clear connection with the
environment . It is also true that the causes why a form of life
could reach certain new environmental conditions can be very random ,
such as changes of the environment by itself , or demographic
expansions towards new places . But this observation does not reveal
us too much about connections between environment and biological
variations .

In short : there's a clear relation between environment and living
organism characteristics , but we don't know all the little details of
this relation .

It looks like things happen this way : the environment demands to
living organisms something like a general essential biological pattern
that all living organisms have to obey ; but , around this minimun
pattern , the environments admits certain variability . It is this
environmentally permitted variability that justifies the current
existence of different biological species .

And maybe in this case a certain randomness is also allowed .

I insist I acknowledge that we know very little about the details of
the connection between environment and biological variation ; although
we know that , in general , living organisms need to adapt to the
place where they live .

I suggested one new definition of evolution , but now I suggest that
maybe it would be better to admit TWO DEFINITIONS OF EVOLUTION , or a
doubled sensed definition of Evolution :

Evolution , in the sense of biological capacity itself of living organisms for transforming , varying or mutating , maybe in some cases due to external factors but in general regardless environmental conditions .

And Evolution , in the sense of living organisms transformation , change or mutation for (re)adapting to new environmental conditions ( this would be rather the classic sense ) .


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