Plain english evolution

Two ways we can progress:

• By evolution: variations between generations adapting to fit the environment.
• By extinction: A catastrophic change to the environment (think dinosaurs and meteors) or the sudden arrival of a new competitor that beats the competition. (Think flightless birds in New Zealand).

Evolution is benign, extinction agressive. But there are some things evolution cannot do: the eye has evolved independently on many occasions in nature. No species has ever evolved a wheel on an axle.

Technology

Technology and civilisation develops in the same way.

• By evolution: products develop to meet environmental needs. IF the environment doesn't change, the developments slowly peter out and ossify. The more an organisation ossifies, the greater its risk to extinction if there is a sudden violent change in conditions. In technology, extinction is represented by the arrival of disruptive technology. So the 2015 Mustang is a direct descendent of the model-T Ford;

But a 3D printer is not a direct descendent of the wooden block (woodblock printing to the Gutenberg press, to lithography, to hot metal typing, to photo-typesetting, to the ink jet printer, to the 3D Printer).

There have been several cambrian explosions:

• The stone age (c. BC10,000 - BC3,300)
• The bronze age (c. BC3,300 - BC1,300)
• The iron age (c. BC1,300 - AD700)
• The renaissance (c.AD1400- AD1600)
• The industrial revolution 1760 - 1840)

We're going through another one right now. The Information Revolution.

Language

Being part of the dynamic ecosystem, Language also evolves.