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Is evolution based on randomness?

April 26, 2017based Evolution randomness

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Is evolution based on randomness?

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Yes and no. Random variation – that is, mutations caused by various external factors, as well as sexual recombination in some cases – forms the raw material on which natural selection acts. However, natural selection is a very precise process of differential survival and reproduction, such that the fittest individuals leave the most progeny on average. Because of natural selection, survival and reproduction is a very distinctly nonrandom process. Please see Natural Selection, Talk.Origins – Evolution and Chance, Talk.Origins – The Evolution of Improved Fitness.