45) Devo

Devolution is a weird, idiosyncratic notion, an ambivalent byproduct of evolutionary theory. It also sounds funny. Its scientific value in biology is questioned, because it supports a biased anthropocentric notion of regress in evolution. The theory of devolution asserts that sometimes a species “de‑evolves” and therefore “degenerates” into a less complex form, by this assuming that progress, or a higher level of complexity, is integral to evolution, with the human race sitting at the highest point of a pyramid of species. But change in life’s genetic code seems to be random, mistake over mistake, adaptation after adaptation…the universe is futile and free.

Another more accepted application of the term devolution is when a particular combination of genetic codes produces a reversal of the evolutionary process: a throwback, a streamlined retromutation. This is when creatures become less complex and remove some of their adaptations because they don’t need them anymore. The reasons are purely environmental and circumstantial: we simply devolved and lost our shiny gills.

Nevertheless this concept inspired the members of the band Devo, who, in 1972 Ohio, wearing disposable yellow paper suits and flower pots, generously embrace the kitsch science fiction misunderstandings generated by the implications of devolution, putting them to good use and worse:
Are we not men? We are DEVO!

Devolution is a weird, idiosyncratic notion, an ambivalent byproduct of evolutionary theory. It also sounds funny. Its scientific value in biology is questioned, because it supports a biased anthropocentric notion of regress in evolution. The theory of devolution asserts that sometimes a species “de‑evolves” and therefore “degenerates” into a less complex form, by this assuming that progress, or a higher level of complexity, is integral to evolution, with the human race sitting at the highest point of a pyramid of species. But change in life’s genetic code seems to be random, mistake over mistake, adaptation after adaptation…the universe is futile and free.

Another more accepted application of the term devolution is when a particular combination of genetic codes produces a reversal of the evolutionary process: a throwback, a streamlined retromutation. This is when creatures become less complex and remove some of their adaptations because they don’t need them anymore. The reasons are purely environmental and circumstantial: we simply devolved and lost our shiny gills.

Nevertheless this concept inspired the members of the band Devo, who, in 1972 Ohio, wearing disposable yellow paper suits and flower pots, generously embrace the kitsch science fiction misunderstandings generated by the implications of devolution, putting them to good use and worse:
Are we not men? We are DEVO!