6 min readJun 19, 2026 02:19 PM IST
First published on: Jun 19, 2026 at 02:19 PM IST
I had always been a huge admirer of evolution and the process of natural selection. I mean look at its achievements: from single-cell beings to evolve via billions of different life forms to end up with as humans — so brilliant we can destroy our planet with the touch of
a button.
One of the aspects I admired most is its successes with camouflage and mimicry. A tiger with its black flames and orange stripes melds into the forest background; an orchid mantis is a dead ringer for the original — to the detriment of its prey, moulting caterpillars resemble dead twigs as they await their transformation into butterflies. It is amazing, the detail that is taken care of, not only in appearance but in behaviour, too.
Charles Darwin and Alfred Russell Wallace, promoters of the theory of natural selection, were not nearly as impressed. They deemed evolution by natural selection to be indifferent, bumbling and opportunistic, forever hamstrung by its innovative history and chance (genetic mutations and heredity), riddled with imperfections. And that our apparently brilliant brains that have sent us to the moon and back, are, in fact, leaky, slow and unreliable.
When we design, say, an aeroplane, we start off with an end goal in mind: the plane. Sketches are made, engineering drawings done, models are constructed until we end up with our aeroplane. If mistakes are made, we can go back to the slate. Not so, with the process of evolution: Cells divide and subdivide each fulfilling a function, but there’s no grand plan as to what the end product will be. Depending upon the environment and conditions and the occasional misstep, natural selection just plods on: What works is pushed forward to the next generation, what doesn’t gets buried under. It’s all hit and miss. And if there are say major behavioural changes taking place en route — well then, Houston we have a problem!
The human spine has been described as a ‘design disaster’: Only because it has not evolved to support a two-legged creature with a heavy head. It was designed for apes and monkeys which travel on four legs. When we became upright all kinds of compromises had to be made. To accommodate the weight of our very heavy heads the spine had to reorient itself into a curve, leading to backaches and slip discs.
Monkeys and apes need all the 26 bones in their feet to help them climb and grip, we don’t. We would do perfectly well if our feet and ankles were fused into a single unit rather like those of ostriches, geared for running and walking. A human engineer would be able to make that change, not natural selection. So we have 26 bones accompanied by easily twistable ankles! An upright spine meant we needed a wider pelvic girdle to enable childbirth and this flew in the face of bipedal locomotion which wanted a narrow one. Hence the forward hunch.
Like us, natural selection has a chalta hain attitude to things, forget about achieving any excellence. And yet, in so many fields it has done exactly that — achieved near perfection and excellence more by chance rather that intent. It seems like the bottom line is this: if it works — brilliant or bumbling — go with it and pass it on. If not bury it under all the other failed attempts.
When something goes wrong with a ‘biological machine’ (such as ourselves) there’s no removing the faulty part and replacing it with brand new one, natural selection doesn’t do that! It is really not a very good mechanic at all even if it has figured out ways to heal itself to the extent possible. (Which is why animals lick their wounds — the saliva has healing properties and our blood clots do the same when we are cut). Some have even learnt to replace broken bit, like lizards re-growing their tails! But it’s never as good as new!
It really seems remarkable that Darwin and Wallace could so clearly see the flaws in the process of evolution and natural selection. Having discovered the theory, one might have imagined they would have defended it tooth and nail. And yes, while every living creature staggers under the baggage of its past, with all its errors and issues it still seems to nudge ahead on the way to achieving some kind of perfection, even if some of its past boo-boos are passed on from generation to generation. It may not have a clue as to where it is heading, what the ‘end goal’ or end product might be, it just keeps plugging on from one generation to the next. Just like termites who have no idea that what they’re building is a magnificent air-conditioned edifice — each worker just gets on with the job its genes allocate to it.
It just pits its wits against its enemies in a non-stop arms race improving with each iteration! So sure, natural selection and evolution might be riddled with flaws but when you see an octopus or cuttlefish swiftly change colour and texture as they move from one environment to another, you can’t help but be in awe and wonder.
Moulting caterpillars resemble dead twigs as they await their transformation into butterflies (Photo Credit: Ranjit Lal) 
Share
