John asks:

> And in summary, each time a random mutation produced a variant organism with
>  increased ability to perceive light and process it, it survived better than
>  those variants who did not.....???

That, in a nutshell, is the evolutionary process.

Selection is always a relative process. It evaluates and compares the
currently existing variants, not in an absolute sense, but by simply culling the
least competitive of the existing variants from the excess population during those
periods when a competition for resources is in effect.


>  So when we run of energy and the world cools down, those with wolfman
>  syndrome (hyper -something? Producing excessive body hair) will be selected
>  for survival ahead of the rest of us..?

Selection continues to exist for human populations, and thus we continue to
evolve, but not nearly so prevelantly as the organic evolution of other
species. Alfred Kroeber, the well-known anthropologist, described in 1917 human
populations as being subject to the "evolution of the superorganic," by which he
meant culture.

This form of evolution is so rapid that it overwhelms physical evolution, and
if the world did cool significantly now, and if we were to retain our level
of technology, then there should be little reason to expect much morphological
change. We would simply reshape the world to match our demands rather than the
other way around.

But it wasn't all that long ago that human populations did remain static in
particular areas for extended periods of time, without significant technology,
thus Eskimos (Inuits) and Watusis (Tutsis) evolved their characteristic body
plans in direct response to their physical environments.

Wirt Atmar

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