It does appear that some parts of our evolutionary process seem inevitable. It is striking that throughout evolutionary history, the eye evolved independently fifty to a hundred times. This is strong evidence for the fact that the different rolls of the dice that have occurred across different species seem to have produced species with eyes regardless of what is going on around them. Lots of other examples illustrate how some features, if they are advantageous, seem to rise to the top of the evolutionary swamp. This is illustrated every time you see the same feature appearing more than once in different parts of the animal kingdom. Dolphins and bats, for example, use echolocation, but they evolved this trait independently at very different points on the evolutionary tree.

~ Marcus Du Sautoy

Marcus Du Sautoy Advantageous Animal Kingdom Bats Chance Dolphins Echolocation Evidence Evolution Evolutionary Evolutionary Tree Evolved Eye Fact Feature History Independently Process Rolls Species Swamp Top Trait

If we are merely a chance product of ‘random happenstance’ and nothing more, doesn’t it strike you as a bit odd that we have the ability to contemplate the question of ‘random happenstance’ with such methodical complexity?

~ Craig D. Lounsbrough

Craig D. Lounsbrough Chance Complex Complexity Contemplate Contradictory Creation Creationism Evolution Evolutionary God Happenstance Illogical Methodical Odd Opposed Opposite Random Randomness

In a Fisherian world, animals are slaves to evolutionary fashion, evolving extravagant and arbitrary displays and tastes that are all meaningless; they do not involve anything other than perceived qualities.

~ Richard O. Prum

Richard O. Prum Aesthetics Choice Coevolution Evolutionary Meaninglessness Purposeless Ronald A Fisher Runaway Process