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Torello comments on Rationality Quotes May 2014 - Less Wrong
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"Nothing in Biology Makes Sense Except in the Light of Evolution"
— Theodosius Dobzhansky
The fact that a theory that can be stated in ten words frames an entire discipline is quite incredible. Compared to group theory and probability, it sure seems like an easier uploading process as well.
"Mathematics is about proving theorems based on axioms and other theorems" also frames a whole discipline.
A frame tells you something about a disciple but it doesn't tell you everything.
What are the ten words or less in which evolution can be stated?
warped by random change
what replicates stays around
always evolving
(More constraints! More constraints!)
change without motion
the lament of the red queen
coevolution
"Multiply, vary, let the strongest live and the weakest die."
-Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species
I think that Darwin would himself acknowledge that "fittest" is a more accurate rendition than "strongest," but whether the quote can be rendered in this way without breaking the ten words constraint comes down to a question of whether "unfittest" counts as a legit word.
I think "fit" has become a free-floating standard rather than meaning "fitting into a particular environment".
Maladapted, as an adjective? Though I suppose that's cheating a bit since it's a sense of adaptation that draws on an evolutionary metaphor.
"We have what replicated better; noise permanently affects replicative ability"?
Natural Selection: the differential survival of replicators with heritable variation.