Will the proposed new universal law of evolution fulfill its promise?
Science headlines claim a new law of evolution fills a huge gap. Will it succeed in solving the mysteries of evolution?
A group of scientists, led by Michael Wong of Carnegie Science’s Earth and Planets Laboratory, wrote a paper titled “On the roles of function and natural selection in evolving systems.” In it the authors propose a
“universal law…for both living and non-living evolving systems that is consistent with the second law of thermodynamics but may not follow inevitably from it.”
The popular science press dutifully created the clickbait headlines that successfully attracted my attention. Scitechdaily’s headline: “Beyond Biology: Scientists Uncover a Universal ‘Missing Law of Evolution.’”
Neuroscience claimed “Unveiling Nature’s Law: Beyond Biology.”
These headlines do nothing to dispel my distaste for clickbait headlines that mislead, especially when it comes to science topics. My fear is that such clickbait contributes to the continuing erosion of trust in science even as the fear-uncertainty-doubt-outrage formula that feeds most media today has led to the general loss of trust in our media channels.
