Progress, Complexity and Evolution

Abstract

Biological progress is a widely debated topic in evolutionary biology that has supporters and detractors. However, it is not a question, despite its importance, that we can affirm that it has been resolved from the scientific point of view. In this work, I present an analysis of the concept based on the theory of evolution by natural selection, its parallels with the also debated concept of “progress” in the history of humanity, and, finally, an attempt is made to orient it towards accessible forms for scientific research. For this, instead of the concept of progress, I resort to that of “biological complexity.” If we have ways of measuring it, we can check if the supposed trends of evolution towards increasing complexity are a passive, random, and inevitable product of it, since something complex can only be expected from something that was initially simple or, on the contrary, there is some directional force that would require interpreting natural selection from a perspective beyond that of having local and microevolutionary effects. The philosophical significance this would have if this scientific research program showed that evolution is moving toward increasing complexity is important.