JOURNAL OF BIOECONOMICS
DOI: 10.1007/s10818-010-9094-5
Natural selection as a paradigm of opportunism in biology
Joseph Esfandiar Hannon Bozorgmehr
Abstract
The success of extant species is largely due to their ability to adapt in the face of constantly changing environmental conditions. Natural selection is the biological mechanism that takes advantage of opportunities to promote spontaneous variations and facilitate evolutionary development. The character of this biological opportunism is considered here, placing it firmly within the context of various social and economic principles—notably individualism, industrialism, utilitarianism and consequentialism—that have characterised the philosophy of the modern era. However, this purely opportunistic approach, and its myopic emphasis on immediate problem solving, has serious shortcomings within both life and business practice. These are examined here in contrast to some of the alternative approaches found in biology and economics theory. The nature and relationship of function to utility in biology is also given particular consideration, as is the issue of incrementalism in the development of complex adaptive features. The methodological reductionism at the heart of evolutionary biology certainly does offer insightful empirical results reported in the scientific literature. Nonetheless, natural selection is observed to be a purely reflexive mechanism and not one capable of producing the kind of innovation necessary for the more revolutionary changes in an organism’s systems.
Keywords Natural selection - Reductionism - Utility - Opportunism - Incrementalism
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NOTA CAUSTICANTE DESTE BLOGGER:
Destaco duas frases deste abstract:
Natural selection is the biological mechanism that takes advantage of opportunities to promote spontaneous variations and facilitate evolutionary development.
...
Nonetheless, natural selection is observed to be a purely reflexive mechanism and not one capable of producing the kind of innovation necessary for the more revolutionary changes in an organism’s systems.
Se, e bota se nisso, a seleção natural é o mecanismo biológico que tira vantagem das oportunidades em promover as variações espontâneas e facilitar o desenvolvimento evolucionário, como que a seleção natural é incapaz de produzir o tipo de inovação necessária para as mudanças mais revolucionárias nos sistemas de um organismo?
Traduzindo em graúdos: a seleção natural é incapaz de produzir MACROEVOLUÇÃO. Mas é a macroevolução que corrobaria o fato, Fato, FATO da evolução no contexto de justificação teórica. Ou eu estou errado??? Chamem os biólogos comprometidos com uma ciência objetiva, e o que será que eles dirão???
