The Limits of Evolutionary Pressure
Industrial melanism illustrates evolutionary pressure/selection pressure. But in punctuated equilibria and large evolution, selection pressure won’t work.
Evolution
Microevolution, Macroevolution, Small Evolution, Large Evolution
Punctuated equilibria makes a case for shifting from microevolution & macroevolution, to ‘small evolution’ & ‘large evolution.’
The Deadliest Animal vs the Best Predator
What is the deadliest animal in America? And is the best predator the deadliest animal, or the most beneficial?
Character Displacement, Language Replacement
Character displacement in biology is similar to language replacement in linguisitics: languages compete, evolve, and even go extinct.
Biological Evolution & Language Evolution
Language evolution can resemble biological evolution. This is an example of how biology can provide insights about innovation in non-biochemical systems.
The Struggle for Existence: The Lovely Deathscape
Nature is beautiful, but it’s really a lovely deathscape: the struggle for existence is everywhere, and only the trees die of old age.
Biomimicry & The Ideal Free Distribution
Biomimicry is a complicated attempt to arrive at the simple, natural solutions that result from the Ideal Free Distribution.
The Need for Biologists in Public Policy; The Bourgeois Strategy
The input of biologists in public policy can help us understand the disruptions of human progress; one example is ‘the bourgeois strategy’.
Biological Numbers, Astronomical Numbers
We marvel over astronomical numbers, but by asking ‘How many cells on Earth?’ we see that biological numbers are vastly larger.
Compassion vs Survival, & Pragmatism
We think of compassion as a universal moral position, but when the choice is compassion or survival, pragmatism will always win out.