Also from the “Was Darwin Wrong?” debate was a claim that life is optimized, which is a sign of intelligent design rather than evolution. Again, due to the format of the debate, this pretty much went on unchallenged in favor of other points of discussion.
There are two easy ways to debunk this. Firstly, this was part of a quote mine from Simon Conway Morris, which was actually misquoted in the process.
The full quote is this:
They write: ‘the natural genetic code shows startling evidence of optimization, two orders of magnitude higher than has been suggested previously.’
That’s right, it’s not even a quote of Morris’! It’s from a study Morris is quoting by Steve Freeland and several associates. But, wait, there’s more:
This result, however, needs to be put into a wider context, because the million alternatives that Freeland and Hurst looked at is only a small fraction of the total number of possibilities [...]
In one way we should hardly be surprised at the efficiency of the genetic code. It is difficult to believe that the genetic code is not a product of selection, [...]
Now one could argue that I’m also quote mining since I’m removing some context. However, you can go read it on Google Books. Note that Morris also says plain as day:
Evolution is true, it happens, it is the way the world is, and we too are one of its products.
But let’s go further and examine another way to debunk this claim that optimization does not happen with evolution. Selection is a very powerful force. Survival of the fittest. Let’s take the case of a mutation:
- If the mutation is beneficial for survival
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- Advance to go, reproduce.
- If the mutation is harmful to survival
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- Most likely don’t reproduce due to dying younger
Thus, genetic codes will tend to be “good” codes. Don’t believe me still? Let’s examine how we’ve used the notion of selection in computer science.
Genetic algorithms are used to solve problems that are best solved by trying a solution, modifying it (aka mutating it), taking the most “fit”, and repeating the process. This describes exactly what nature does in the case of natural selection. And this is used all the time to solve computer science problems!
So I rest my case: our DNA is optimized, but not because it was designed. It’s because the optimized DNA is the one that works the best. That alone can be explained through the selective processes upon which evolution is based.
