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To: Ron who wrote (59)	1/3/2023 9:47:53 PM
From: Sun Tzu	Read Replies (1) of 65

Thank you. Gould posits that changing one thing in evolution–removing one “George Bailey” life form or one DNA change or one climate event–from the timeline would result in an entirely different evolutionary outcome. I think the difference between the two scientists boils down to whether you believe evolution is a chaotic system or a fractal. Fractals and Chaos are closely related but not the same. In a chaotic system, a small change will lead to very big outcomes. Fractal systems however tend to converge to the same overall shape after several iterations. Beyond that, the article claims that it is widely believed that evolution takes a very long time to take hold. This belief was true when I was a kid. But has now been decisively disproved and every modern scientist should know this. Obviously we see it everyday in the mutation of virus and bacteria. But we also see it at a much larger scale amongst the birds and even humans. There is this bird (I forgot the name) that travels from Africa to Europe. Until about 30 or so years ago they all migrated together to England. But for some reason they split. One group went on their traditional route, while the other group chose to go over land and (I think) settle in Germany and neighboring countries. The birds can now be considered two separate species. The original, flying over the sea and for long distances, has longer and sharper wings. This is suitable for their journey. The other group developed shorter and rounder wings. This won't carry them as far, but since they are flying mostly over land, it's not an issue because they can take a rest. The shorter and rounder wings do give them greater agility which is more useful for outmaneuvering land preditors and city environments. Furthermore, the birds have developed different songs. As a result, they do not recognize the mating call of the other branch and cannot mate with each other. It is not far fetched to conceive how much greater their differences could become as their respective environments diverge. My point is that evolution doesn't have to take millions or even thousands of years to create a new species. It can happen in a matter of decades if the conditions warrant it.

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