Necessary Life’s Solutions According to Simon Conway Morris
Journal Title: Filozoficzne Aspekty Genezy - Year 2010, Vol 7, Issue 0
Abstract
The article concerns necessary life’s solutions according to Simon Conway Morris (born 1951), a British paleontologist who is famous in scientific circles thank to his research on fossils of Burgess Shale. Initially, close analysis led him to the same conclusions as Stephen Jay Gould – especially about the significant role of chance in the process of life’s evolution. Later, however, Simon Conway Morris radically changed his mind which is expressed in his book [i]Life’s Solution: Inevitable Humans in a Lonely Universe[/i]. He believes that, in fact, nature is highly limited in its choices and that is the reason of necessity of many solutions. The problem of solutions in evolution of life is interesting because of the limited number of predictions formulated by the theory of evolution which is accepted by biologists. Theory of evolution assumes the randomness of evolutionary process. I will try to assess whether opposite stance of the author of [i]Life’s Solution[/i] is a real alternative to theory of evolution. I want to present solutions which, according to Simon Conway Morris, are necessary and to show on what ground he rests his belief. He divides such solutions to molecular, necessary due to physical properties of substances, and environmental, being a response to adaptative needs. It will be substantiated by numerous examples from the living world, including both contemporary and extinct organisms. My purpose is also to present predictions given by the author of [i]Life’s Solution[/i] as to the results of future evolution of living things, and to assess their validity.
Authors and Affiliations
Michał Nowosad
Keywords
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