Evolution Doesn't Care About Progress

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The term "evolution" originally described any gradual improvement process—a usage that persists today in casual conversation and theoretical physics. Charles Darwin specifically called his discovery "evolution by natural selection," distinguishing it from other continuous change processes. A persistent misconception, captured in Herbert Spencer's phrase "survival of the fittest" (which Darwin unfortunately adopted), suggests evolution always represents progress or improvement in functionality.

But evolution is indifferent to progress—it simply favors genes that spread most effectively through a population, even when they harm the species.

The peacock's colorful tail exemplifies this paradox: it makes the bird more vulnerable to predators while serving no practical function, yet it persists because it spreads genes effectively. Evolution doesn't optimize for species survival or individual well-being; it merely perpetuates whatever genetic variations reproduce most successfully in a given environment.