Gould famously argued that evolution is highly contingent on random events. He believed that if you replayed the "tape of life," a different set of winners and losers would emerge every time. To Gould, humans are a magnificent evolutionary fluke.
If you could rewind the history of Earth—every volcanic eruption, every meteor strike, every random mutation—and press "play" again, would the world look the same? Would we still have humans, or would the planet be dominated by bipedal dinosaurs? Improbable Destinies: Fate, Chance, and the Fut...
The most provocative chapter of Improbable Destinies asks whether human-like intelligence was bound to happen. While many adaptations (like eyes or wings) appear repeatedly in nature, Losos points out that many others are unique flukes. Gould famously argued that evolution is highly contingent
If evolution is predictable on Earth, it might be predictable on other planets, giving us a hint of what extraterrestrial life might look like. Final Thoughts If you could rewind the history of Earth—every
