>And yet, as They Might Be Giants put it, these disruptive designs, so seemingly flawed, made the difference between extinction in the cold and explosive, radiating growth.
These designs aren't seemingly flawed, they are flawed. Evolution produces flawed designs by "design".
Evolution trends towards survival. One thing critical for survival is equilibrium of the ecosystem so on a macro level evolution will trend towards equilibrium even if that necessitates the need for flawed designs.
In fact, flawed designs are critical to ecosystem survival. It works because competing designs to the flawed design are also just as flawed.
An invasive species on an island ecosystem is a perfect example of an over efficient design destroying a local ecosystem and in turn eventually destroying itself.
This is why ebola didn't spread as far as covid-19. Ebola is too efficient at killing thus reducing transmission rate and burning out the local ecosystem and thereby destroying itself before it got too far. The less efficient virus is the one that spread across the globe.
The fact that Ebola kills its host is actually a mal-adaptation. Killing the host is counterproductive, as then the virii in that host die as well.
The ideal virus is one that easily spreads and does no harm to its host, or even improves the survival of its host. Our bodies are full of these organisms, like our gut bacteria.
You could say Ebola is designed to live in another more competitive ecosystem where it’s abilities are rendered less effective thereby maintaining an equilibrium. This ecosystem is the illusive reservoir that epidemiologists are looking for. The suspicion is that this reservoir is bats and that bats have an immune system that can easily pacify the virus.
When the virus is introduced into humans it arrives as an invasive species overloading the habitat and destroying itself.
These designs aren't seemingly flawed, they are flawed. Evolution produces flawed designs by "design".
Evolution trends towards survival. One thing critical for survival is equilibrium of the ecosystem so on a macro level evolution will trend towards equilibrium even if that necessitates the need for flawed designs.
In fact, flawed designs are critical to ecosystem survival. It works because competing designs to the flawed design are also just as flawed.
An invasive species on an island ecosystem is a perfect example of an over efficient design destroying a local ecosystem and in turn eventually destroying itself.
This is why ebola didn't spread as far as covid-19. Ebola is too efficient at killing thus reducing transmission rate and burning out the local ecosystem and thereby destroying itself before it got too far. The less efficient virus is the one that spread across the globe.