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turtley_different t1_jabingq wrote

Reply to comment by Ieatadapoopoo in Why does temperature determine the sex of certain egg laying animals like crocodiles? by insink2300

You: > Is it an advantage or just “this happened to work out slightly better than the alternatives present at the time”?

Evolution: I don't understand the difference?

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mywan t1_jabvbiz wrote

Yes. Evolution doesn't do A/B testing. If it survives and breeds lucky you.

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Richard_Thickens t1_jac6ya8 wrote

It doesn't have the intentionality of A/B testing, but it does allow for genetic divergence and drift, and it is subject to survivorship bias. Instead, it's survival by brute force calculation, with a high degree of casualty.

Edit: Changed a word to avoid redundancy.

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copaceanu t1_jaeyqdq wrote

If you look at it poetically evolution is a huge A/B/C/..../Z testing. It's the quest for perfect avoiders of Death.

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