Paul Davies - Can Mathematics Explain Evolution?

What are applications of mathematics to research in evolution? What are categories or examples where mathematics generates deep insights? For example: population genetics, evolutionary dynamics, models of natural selection, kin selection, power or scaling laws, autocatalytic sets.

Paul Davies is a theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and astrobiologist.

Closer To Truth, hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn and directed by Peter Getzels, presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.

[decorbeau]

Titan is the largest moon of Saturn, not a Jupiter moon ... but Paul is a brilliant popular scientist.

[seanpierce]

Life is very poorly defined to begin with, so it’s unlikely that we could quantify the “lifeness” of something. I suspect that what is needed is self-replication combined with self-contained Turing-Completeness, in which case the transition may be quite sudden. Of course, that’s just one definition.

[Andre-Linoge]

We are all the same under the skin!>< A tiny difference makes all the difference!

[thesoundsmith]

Mandelbrot Fractals exactly illustrate how evolution is not only possible, but built-in to the life process.

[Fctn]

Evolution Only explain mixing up things but lets give it a chance to keep pretending one have the ultimate answer to the reality. Math, science, philosophy, religion, politics and all kind ideas that come from word.

[kallianpublico]

Math is fundamentally rules. From geometry to algebra to Boolean algebra to linear algebra to statistics and probability, to calculus, to Fourier analysis all are exemplified by different rules controlling the answers presupposed by differing questions.
Is evolution a set of rules? A set of rules "governing the process" of physiological "survival"? Notice I write physiological survival not just physiological change.
Math is good at logic, but not at all good at meaning. The examples of games is instructive. Tic-tac-toe is a simple game. How do we program a computer to "win" at tic tac toe? Does a computer "win" at tic-tac-toe, at checkers, chess, go? Do the rules specifying the process of playing games specifically define "winning"? Do the rules give any choice about winning?
I submit that "winning" is supplied by the programmer. Winning has no meaning to an algorithm: a process. No set of rules, of themselves, provide meaning.
In language the "Liar's Paradox" supposedly shows that "written" language, of itself, contains no meaning. Language, as an exponent of conscious humans, contains meaning. Only as an exponent of beings conscious of Nature is meaning present. Not at all in the rules, only in the rule maker.
The question must, therefore, be answered as to how "survival" is embedded into physiological evolution apriori - without meaning? Without a meaning maker/interpreter?
Without the survival Urge, mathematics is equally good at losing as well as winning. The rules would serve no purpose.

[holgerjrgensen]

NO, Language cant explain Language
Only Living Beings can explain. (Evolution)

[DannyBiles]

As a mathematician I would say that with enough assumptions you could model these things, but I don't know how useful the models would be, given the difficulty of finding valid assumptions.

[gsmith]

I love this discussion! And channel! plus all the comments are so thought invoking. Our brains are working overtime and that’s what it’s about. Cheers!

[jelleludolf]

Paul Davies talks the most sense consistently. It would be wise to take notice of his views.

[rossw]

evolution depends on the environment, including other organisms

so predicting the evolution of any one organism depends on predicting the evolutions of other organisms - and predicting the evolution of the environment

so deep climate and geology, incl even the evolution of tectonic plates!

and astronomy, since small changes in earth's orbit and angle of rotation affects climate


you see these effects in the evolutionary record, where new organisms didn't emerge at a steady rate, as you might imagine from "molecular clocks"

rather, there were periods of explosive emergence of new species (eg, the cambrian explosion)

as well as periods of implosive extinction of species (eg, dinosaurs)


so it's not as simple as davies might make it sound

[jamesruscheinski]

is there a way to quantify possible effects of an environment on inorganic, organic and living matter?

[Atheist]

how many lies does it take to sell a lie

[dondattaford]

Is this camera on me that's stupid

[hjvjccc]

"..Non-life to life..."

"Simple life..
...UP TO...intelligence "

They are so FAR from the truth.

[EdwardHinton-qsry]

A Paul Davies and Martin Reece discussion would be a good listen.

[seesnap]

Did u hear about the constipated mathematician ? He worked it out with a pencil

[abduazirhi]

Paul David is an amazing scientist to listen to. Life is mysterious...more mysterious is the transition from non-life to life !!! Maths cannot explain the mystery of life’s origin ...

[simonhibbs]

Interesting talk. For comparison, how do we define a vehicle? Space rockets, cars, planes and horse drawn wagons are vehicles, but is a skateboard or a pair of roller-skates a vehicle? How about one roller-skate? If a child sits on a rug and I pull the rug along the ground, is the rug a vehicle? What percentage of a vehicles is a pair of shoes?

[NicholasWilliams-ukxu]

These are great points, you can definitely get those answers, even if those chemical processes are slow and cold.