Evolution Essay, Research Paper

Adam Carpenter

Psych 211

Reaction Paper #4

December 11, 2000

Evolution is a very controversial topic in the world today. Many people believe in it, while at the same time, many don’t. Like it or not there are many factors that point to the existence of evolution, but what role does evolution play in the theory of learning.

It is obvious that learning has an important bearing on evolution. Ideas or actions that are advantageous to the life of an organism are going to be continued, while ones that are not advantageous to the life of an organism are not continues, as it may become harmful to the livelihood of the species. This may be an obvious point, but when you take the time to actually analyze this it is very interesting. It is Darwin’s point plainly stated that organisms that aren’t smart enough to adapt to new situations are slowly phased out of their environment, while the smarter species make efforts to adapt to the environment. This is evidence that learning occurs in each and every species of organism on this planet. From the smallest amoeba to the largest whale, cognition is evident. It is interesting that, for example, an organism will know that it needs to switch it’s eating habits to stay healthy in an ever-changing environment. They may realize that one source of food is depleting so they need to switch to another.

The idea of evolution is interesting in the since that only the smart will survive. They may must learn to adapt to new surroundings. Some people may have a hard time understanding this point, but it is true it. Extinction is proof that evolution and cognition in the smallest of species occurs.