The Niche Theory of Evolution
Excerpt from “Why Knot?” Buy the book at Amazon
In a given territory, there are a finite number of niches in which living creatures can thrive. Species compete and evolve in those niches. Once a species dominates its particular niche, no other life form will have an opportunity to adapt and evolve there. Nature doesn’t tend toward perfection. The first good approximation fills the niche.
Likewise, in a given culture, ideas and beliefs and their physical manifestations survive and evolve in a finite number of niches. If slaves could do manual labor, there was no need to develop machinery to do it. If the abacus was good enough for everyday calculations, there was no need to develop mathematics. When niches in a particular social structure are full, there is no opportunity for new ideas or new technology to evolve until catastrophic events break the structure into pieces. Then, over time, the pieces coalesce in new patterns, with new empty niches to be filled, often inspired by fragments remaining from the previous structure, and opening the opportunity for new creativity and technological advancement, until the new set of niches is filled.
Today, global transportation and communication are leading to the breakup of what once had been isolated and stable social structures. And the societies that fostered the evolution of the technology that made that happen are in turmoil, changing unpredictably due to tectonic shifts in economies and ways of life. Desperate masses of people with no home and no jobs or low-paying jobs and no role in society and no sense that their effort/work/creativity can provide them with a livelihood are likely to trigger a global breakup of social and economic structures.
