Anthropology Question:
Why is necessity NOT the mother of invention in evolutionary terms?
Answer:
Because variability has to be in existence before natural selection can act on it. Variability arises through mutation not the needs of a particular organism. For example, when I work in East Africa, my need for darker skin pigmentation and longer limbs to radiate heat has no influence whatsoever on the number of melanofors in my skin or the length of my limbs.
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