We pick off where we left off on the last episode.
First we begin with understanding what makes something complex. Complexity is a measurement of how many distinct interacting parts a thing is composed of and to what degree these parts are specialized.
Next we answer why the maximum power principle selects for complexity — because general solutions are less efficient than specialized ones. The more problems a part is required to solve, the greater the number of trade-offs it must accommodate to provide a solution to each one. However, a specialized part responsible for only one thing can build its entire form at perfecting a solution to that problem.
We then segway into trying to understand why photosynthetic cells drove its chemosynthetic competitors away from the surface of the water deep into the ocean. Why didn’t chemosynthetic cells develop counter-adaptations like those in red queen dynamics?
It is because of competitive exclusion — when two species compete over a fixed inert resource, one of them is either driven to extinction or forced to adopt a new niche in the environment.
They do not enter into a co-evolutionary arms race because relationship’s of competitive exclusion are markedly different from those seen in red-queen dynamics.
Red-queen relationships are reciprocal, one side is dependent on the other for survival — in competitive exclusion there is no dependence. Once one side has an advantage, they win. It is a race to the finish, not a race to stay where you are.
Both sides are under the same pressure of directional natural selection to fulfill the maximum power principle, extract as much energy as you can. If species A is 1% more efficient than species B, by the time B catches up to species A, A has already improved by another percent. B can no longer compete in the environment.
Instead, species B must find a new niche or go extinct. This is why we see the abundance and diversity of life all around us. Variants of a species who can’t compete for highly contest resources are favored to find a new untapped resources.
Life spreads to fill unexplored opportunities — from the bottom of the ocean to the top of the stratosphere. Organisms carve out a niche where they can be maximally efficient at extracting energy.
