It is a natural human impulse to think of evolution as a long chain of improvements, of a never-ending advance towards largeness and complexity – in a word, towards us. We flatter ourselves. Most of the real diversity in evolution has been small-scale. We large things are just flukes – an interesting side branch.
In "A Short History of Nearly Everything," Bill Bryson challenges the common perception of evolution as a continuous trajectory toward larger and more complex organisms. He suggests that this view is often a misguided form of self-importance in which humanity sees itself as the pinnacle of evolution. Instead, Bryson highlights that much of evolutionary diversity comprises smaller-scale changes rather than grand advancements.
Furthermore, Bryson points out that the existence of large organisms, including humans, may merely be serendipitous occurrences within the broader evolutionary narrative. These large forms are just one branch of a vast evolutionary tree, emphasizing that the intrinsic value of evolution lies in its complex variety rather than in a linear progression toward complexity.
