Life and Universe

                       Life In The Universe 

                                                                                              Prakash 

In the selection I have chosen Chapter 6 of Life in the Universe; The Evolution of Life on Earth begins with the theories of Darwin and natural selection and how survival of the fittest was one of the main theories of evolution of life of an organism. Although it is a good theory, and has been tested through years it is not one of the main priorities of evolution. There was a reason of an outside force that forced the funas to extinction, not because it was unable to adapt to an environment. Also the past of origin goes too far back and is so complicated that there is no sure way to point a certain time or place in the history of our origin, unlike the work of nature. For example Homo sapiens come to be through neural complexity. Human arose from thousands of events happening in time that altered our past in a dramatic way. In order to understand the drastic changes we have to understand not just the principals of evolution but to understand the theory and life styles of fossils found. 

      Complex creatures don’t mean that it has a better chance of survival and evolving into something better. Yet the simplest form of creation like bacteria still rule all with the enormous amount occupying the earth. Still the more complex we are doesn’t mean we have a better chance of survival. More complex animals like dinosaurs have already been extinct, so that tells us a great deal about evolving or surviving in the future. Bacteria occupy a wider range of space on earth and are an indestructible type of organism. Humans and other type of complex organisms have to worry about their extinction while bacteria on the other hand have a low chance of getting wiped out. Even as they are simple organisms they also have the same chance as we do to evolve without the tough struggle. Comparing the two it shows that complexity was not good or favored issue in evolution. Complexity is probably a bias made by us for the reason of our being and our evolution. Evolving in such a way, it would state that animals evolve by greater complexity, or ecological adaptation with the theories of Darwin. Still there is no proof to us that this was true. Also if complexity was such a great thing why did it take so long for evolution of these type of species (including us). 

     With the evolution of species some must get erased to make way for new animals to emerge, for instance environmental changes. Dinosaurs for an example was thought to rule over the earth before mammals but the truth stands out that mammals and dinosaurs coexisted together for about 100 million years, just that mammals were small creatures. History books tend to be bias about the way that we evolve to this state. Even in books they state humans as the last of the evolutionary chain when other animals are evolving ahead or with us. They don’t talk about the past of the chain and only little bits and pieces but the bias point of what has only evolved at that moment. Many species with multicellular structure evolve to great numbers but those experiments died out the few remaining branches branched out to more different types but they all have basic anatomies. Mass extinction is another reason of evolution is through sudden changes impacts that happen quickly that wipes out a lot of species but the best equipped tend to survive and evolve more differently to suit the environment, like Darwinian. 

     It is thought that mammals survive that castrophobic moment in time is due to the very small size they were, where as the dinosaurs in great size died out. They have a greater chance of not getting extinct by the small size and able to hide in many more places and it was easier for them to branch out to the territory of the dinosaurs since they were extinct. 

     With the theories of evolution humans do not want to see themselves as an insignificant branch of the tree of evolution. So the theories of us dominating all and how we are greater rings in our mind that we stand above all species. So we will always be bias about humans being greater in a tree of evolution then just a tiny twig broken and would not grow out if not taken care properly. We will not understand the way of evolution completely, if we do not accept the fact that where we stand is just as little as every other species.

     In chapter 6 Evolution of Life on Earth, I totally agree with the process of evolution and how we tend to take proportion of the situation and see ourselves as a greater being or species upon all others. When other species evolved before us and is still going on with their lifestyle for example bacteria. Bacteria are among us everywhere yet they are the least complex and very little. We in the other hand are greater in size and very complex with vertebras also with a brain but still worry about our future in a time of extinction. We see ourselves above it all and tend to base history on and around us, but really we are just a little twig in a big brush that continues to grow and expand without notification. In order for us to understand evolution is for us to take in and understand our place in the evolutionary period and other evolving species as well. So the coexistence with one another does not interfere with each other’s lives. Getting rid of the bias we have for the view of evolutionary path will open more doors to the awareness of other species and the knowledge we gain from them. 

     Chapter 6 of Evolution of life on Earth and its relevance to the class by how organism or species are evolving on our earth. Understanding our evolutionary past will give us hope that somewhere in the universe there is such a process of evolution beginning or going on in another planet. Giving us understanding of how life goes on and the possibility of life starting shows us that maybe our future may not be so dim. Also gives us a chance of better survival. This issue has to do with the universal life in the cosmos by us. The planet Earth is too, apart of the cosmos and therefore is a big deal because it sustains life in its presence. Our understanding the past leads us to the knowledge and hope towards the future. Also we might be able to make a water-sustaining planet to have such life evolve for our suitability.