Question: Do you think that other species will evolve in ways as complex as the apes in the future?

Anthony Redmond answered on 18 Jan 2019: last edited 18 Jan 2019 2:03 pm

This raises a philosophical question about our interpretation of complexity, and whether complexity is ‘better’.
If we think about it there may not be a reason to assume that apes have evolved in a more complex way, or are more complex than any other species. For example, complex social structures exist in invertebrates like ants and bees, and complex brains exist in octopus and dolphins, while some plants in particular have much more complex genetics and genetic histories than us! These observations are based on our perspectives of what complexity is, and whether we can even recognise it!

Is complexity always ‘better’? Simple organisms rule the earth! We probably consider bacteria and archea as the simplest organisms that exist, and yet they are the predominant lifeforms on our planet! Also, while complexity as we tend to see has evolved multiple times, so too have complex species reverted to more simple forms (depending on perspective!), e.g. yeasts are fungi that have reverted to a single cell form, and snakes are lizards that have lost their legs, but these species remain successful!