Species evolve exactly as if they were adapting as best they could to a changing world, and not at all as if they were moving toward a set goal.
Interpretation
Species adapt to their environment without a predetermined purpose or goal.
The quote by George Gaylord Simpson emphasizes that evolution is a process driven by the necessity of adaptation to changing environments rather than a directed phenomenon towards a specific endpoint. It suggests that species develop traits and characteristics out of survival instincts, responding to the conditions around them rather than striving for an ideal state or form.
In practice
In a science class discussion about evolution, one might use this quote to illustrate the principle of adaptation.
If a sect does officially insist that its structure of belief demands that evolution be false, then no compromise is possible. An honest and competent biology teacher can only conclude that the sect's beliefs are wrong and that its religion is a false one.
Now we do have many examples of transitional sequences.
He is a state of matter, a form of life, a sort of animal, and a species of the Order Primates, akin nearly or remotely to all of life and indeed to all that is material.
Man is the result of a purposeless and materialistic process that did not have him in mind. He was not planned. He is a state of matter, a form of life, a sort of animal, and a species of the Order Primates, akin nearly or remotely to all of life and indeed to all that is material.
Man is the result of a purposeless and natural process that did not have him in mind
To put it crudely but graphically, the monkey who did not have a realistic perception of the tree branch he jumped for was soon a dead monkey-and therefore did not become one of our ancestors.
No amounts of stone and bone could yield the kinds of information that the paintings gave so freely.
There are an awful lot of scientists today who believe that before very long we shall have unraveled all the secrets of the universe. There will be no puzzles anymore. To me, it'd be really, really tragic because I think one of the most exciting things is this feeling of mystery, feeling of awe, the feeling of looking at a little live thing and being amazed by it and how it has emerged through these hundreds of years of evolution and there it is and it is perfect and why.
Anybody who has been seriously engaged in scientific work of any kind realizes that over the entrance to the gates of the temple of science are written the words: 'Ye must have faith.'
Oh leave the Wise our measures to collate. One thing at least is certain, light has weight. One thing is certain and the rest debate. Light rays, when near the Sun, do not go straight.
The sciences, even the best,-mathematics and astronomy,-are like sportsmen, who seize whatever prey offers, even without being able to make any use of it.
The significant chemicals of living tissue are rickety and unstable, which is exactly what is needed for life.
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