Today I’m gonna ask a simple question: if we were to rerun the film of life a given number of times, pretty much like rerunning a program, would most things happen identically? Of course the program of life has many non-deterministic variables. Would we all still develop eyes and limbs? Would the same music be considered good music? Would we develop the same mental and social faculties? How different would we be?
The answer to this question may shed light on how variable organisms really are and just how selective the environment is. It is believed that ecosystems have many intricate and subtle connections, often maintaining a brittle balance. Take an ecosystem and change one of the players slightly—chances are that all other participants will tend to change as a result. Replaying the film of life would result in not one, but virtually all the participants evolving differently, changing the dynamics of the system dramatically. So the question is warranted—would the same patterns emerge?
At some point, I will have to come up with a simulation that may provide some answers to this question. But not just yet.
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