It seems clear what you mean (though not why you called it the complement of the environment). But I still don’t see what’s common to all kinds of evolutions, so maybe I’m still misunderstanding.
It’s certainly true that any evolved object is a function of its environment and we can deduce features of the environment from looking at the object. But this is also true for any object that has a history of being influenced by its environment. A geologist looks at a stone and tells you how it was shaped by rain. An astronomer looks at a nebula and tells you how it was created by a supernova. “Being able to learn about a thing’s past environment from looking at its present shape” is so general that you must have meant something more than that, but what?
“Being able to learn about a thing’s past environment from looking at its present shape” is so general that you must have meant something more than that, but what?
That’s basically what I meant, actually, with the inclusion of “looking at a thing’s present environment tells you about its likely future shapes.” I chose “complement” because it seemed like a better word than “mirror,” but I’m not sure it was the best choice, and think “record” might have been better.
It seems clear what you mean (though not why you called it the complement of the environment). But I still don’t see what’s common to all kinds of evolutions, so maybe I’m still misunderstanding.
It’s certainly true that any evolved object is a function of its environment and we can deduce features of the environment from looking at the object. But this is also true for any object that has a history of being influenced by its environment. A geologist looks at a stone and tells you how it was shaped by rain. An astronomer looks at a nebula and tells you how it was created by a supernova. “Being able to learn about a thing’s past environment from looking at its present shape” is so general that you must have meant something more than that, but what?
That’s basically what I meant, actually, with the inclusion of “looking at a thing’s present environment tells you about its likely future shapes.” I chose “complement” because it seemed like a better word than “mirror,” but I’m not sure it was the best choice, and think “record” might have been better.