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If we ask ourselves, “what is evolution?” a good idea would be to consult a dictionary. The Diccionario General de la Lengua Española (The General Dictionary of the Spanish Language) gives us the following definitions for the term “evolution”:
- The action of things developing or transforming by gradually passing from one state to another: the ~ of species; the ~ of a theory, of a policy.
- The effect of things developing or transforming by gradually passing from one state to another.
- p. ext. Movement, change or transformation, in general: the evolution of a dance.
- Movement, change of troop or ship formation for defense or offense purposes.
- Fig. - Change of conduct, purpose or attitude.
- BIOL. – Derivation of the species from living organisms, from others already in existence, through a process more or less gradual and continuous.
- PHILOS. Hypothesis that attempts to explain all phenomena by successive transformations of a solitary original entity.
While making a critical commentary of these definitions of evolution, various observations can be made.
The principal characterization of things developing and transforming themselves from one state to another is the gradual pace; if it were fast or accelerated, we would enter the concept of revolution.
The second observation is that the concept of evolution has two basic meanings, one being points 1) "The action of things developing or transforming by passing gradually from one state to another"; and of point 2) "effect of... ". The first refers to the internal dynamics of things that makes them develop or transform, in short, their own development. The second seems to be related to its external appearance that is nothing else but the effect or result of internal evolution and its own external perception.
Together with the two basic or general meanings, internal and external evolution, we find other specific meanings. In point 6), a special mention is made on biological evolution. This definition of evolution does not add anything special except that, because of the normal dynamics of the evolution of species, it is verifying the long-term concept for the aforementioned field. It is explicitly giving us the concept derived from the Darwinian Theory and its subsequent adaptations; that is, a specific type of concept of evolution that point 2) refers to.
In the assumption of understanding the aforementioned point 2) as an internal effect, the definition of evolution in point 6) that we are analyzing would continue using it as an external effect.
On its behalf, point 7) defines the philosophical base on which rests the mentioned theory and origin of life.
In conclusion, the concept of evolution in biology is different from the two generic concepts of evolution as being a variant of the concept of evolution as an external perception of the changes or transformations by limiting itself to a long-term concept.
For the General Theory of the Conditional Evolution of Life (GTCEL), the concept of evolution corresponds to the meaning of its short-term as well as long-term internal dynamics in which, evolution being long-term, the addition of changes are no longer in the short-term evolution but rather in each generation.
Next, we are going to explain the consequences of one focus or another of evolution.
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