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On Thursday, when we were talking about randomness, and how evolution does not have any real "destination," I was blown away. I used to have this idea that evolution was a process of "making things better;" and that everything was approaching some ideal state. At the same time, it is hard to think about evolution as entirely random. After all, it has been shown time and time again that when things evolve they become better able to adapt to their environment. Therefore, evolution definitely is a process of "making things better" to some extent. To claim otherwise would contradict the theory of natural selection.

Yet, there is definitely an element of randomness to evolution, especially when we consider where it's going. Where is evolution trying to take us? Is it trying to take us anywhere? These ideas got me thinking about the concept of infinity. If the world is infinite, there can be no ultimate destination for evolution, because nothing will ever stop. In other words, if the world were not infinite, we might be better able to claim that evolution was taking us to some destination, as destination implies a stopping point. This does not seem to be the case, though.

Another idea I was blown away by on Thursday was the idea that the breaking down and increasing randomness of some things directly contributes to the building up and increasing orderliness of others. For example, when we eat, we break down food into random bits and pieces, but these random bits and pieces are what allow us to grow and to develop; to become more ordered. This whole idea actually made me think of the message in the "Circle of Life" idea from the Lion King (yes, I started singing the song in my head too:P) But seriously, a silly kid's song describes the exchanges of life quite accurately as a circle. Life is continuous and perfectly connected. (Thank you Elton John and Tim Rice.....oh, and Professor Grobstein too!)