Life is simply the reification of the process of living.
Ernst MayrRead
Evolution ... is opportunistic, hence unpredictable.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Evolution is driven by chance events, making it unpredictable.
The quote by Ernst Mayr emphasizes that evolution is not a linear or predetermined process; rather, it takes advantage of random opportunities that arise in the environment. This unpredictability means that evolutionary outcomes can vary widely based on the specific circumstances and chance events, illuminating the complexity and dynamism of life on Earth.
Themes
EvolutionOpportunisticUnpredictableNatureScience
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a discussion about the complexities of environmental adaptation in biology.
More from Ernst Mayr
All quotes →The most consequential change in man's view of the world, of living nature and of himself came with the introduction, over a period of some 100 years beginning only in the 18th century, of the idea of change itself, of change over periods of time: in a word, of evolution.
Ernst MayrRead
Evolution, thus, is merely contingent on certain processes articulated by Darwin: variation and selection. No longer is a fixed object transformed, as in transformational evolution, but an entirely new start is, so to speak, made in every generation.
Ernst MayrRead
There are a number of attributes of species and populations that are not of any particular selective advantage to any single individual in a population but that are of great advantage to the population as a whole.
Ernst MayrRead
Wherever we look at the living biota … discontinuities are overwhelmingly frequent…The discontinuities are even more striking in the fossil record. New species usually appear in the fossil record suddenly, not connected with their ancestors by a series of intermediates.
Ernst MayrRead
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