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Beyond Natural Selection Robert Wesson Humans are not simply the result of a mechanistic process. In this broad and highly readable inquiry, Robert Wesson proposes an approach to evolution that is more in harmony with modern science and more meaningful for the comprehension of our existence. He emphasizes the importance for evolution of inner direction and the self-organizing capacities of life. This view is better able to account for the chaotic nature of the evolutionary process and the inherent propensity of complex dynamic systems to grow more complex with time. A large number of examples of plants and animals support this idea, and Wesson's account includes both carefully documented scientific facts and intriguing anecdotes about the odd aberrations in natural selection. In Beyond Natural Selection, Wesson points out that Darwinism and neoDarwinism explain only part of the richness of contemporary biota and, in fact, even deny the reality of the most important features of evolution. Complex systems such as the human eye, the sonar apparatus of bats, and the electric organs of some fish are infused with patterns better described by the methods of modern chaos theory. He begins with a useful description of Darwinian theory and the controversies over its application and then proceeds to show why natural selection cannot sufficiently account for the development of the multitude of modern species. Along the way Wesson addresses a number of intriguing issues, including the implications for Darwinian theory of the tantalizingly incomplete fossil record, the often extravagant and apparently useless developments around sex, and an ethical challenge to Darwin's insistence on survival of the fittest. He explains the ways genetic patterns or attractors influence evolution and considers the relationship of heredity and environment as well as genetic and behavioral response to external signals. Wesson concludes this rich and provocative study by applying evolutionary theory to humans, summarizing the longterm trends of evolution and discussing the relationship between the way we understand evolution and development of human values. About the Author Robert Wesson, a political scientist who has undergone ecdysis, is Senior Research Fellow at the Hoover Institute in Stanford, California.
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