Is evolution a random process

Answer 1

Answer
No. It is far from random, there is nothing random about it. If I were to race my three year old nephew I would win, easily. I am faster and stronger and I have more stamina. The outcome of the race would not be random, it would be inevitable. Evolution is the same. The organism that is better equipped to reproduce will have more success and therefore become dominant and potentially drive other strains or species out of existence. The only random element is the mutations that cause one animal to be more fit than another. Most are harmful and die out in a generation or some, some are neutral and make no real difference (these are the variations we look at for DNA tests in court) and a few are beneficial. The good ones are passed down and over time an accumulation of good changes causes the organism to become a different sort of organism. This could be likened to Poker. One hand is clearly better than another but the cards are dealt at random. Still, the best hand wins and the worst player is out of the game the soonest. Hope this helps!

Answer - Yes
Evolution is very random as it is based on mutations in the genetic code of organisms, although this process is random natural selection is NOT random and it is one of the main principals of this theory.

Answer 3

Yes, and no. Evolution is random in the sense that the solutions it produced (metabolic paths, body shapes, and so on) were by no means necessary outcomes, but produced by happenstances of genetic chemistry and chaotic environmental pressures. Should we rewind the clock and reset life to its most primitive form, there is no reason why the same lifeforms should evolve again. Evolution is non-random in the sense that whatever solution was produced would still have to have met the same criteria for survival and replicative ability. To summarize: natural selection limits the randomness of genetics, but by no means eliminates it.