Development is not Evolution | EvolutionExamples

This video explains the difference between evolution and development, and why it's a bad idea to confuse the two concepts. The terms develop and evolve are often confused with each other when people talk about biological change over time. Development describes the changes that an organism makes over the course of its life, from conception to death. The word develop comes from the French word developper which means to unfold or unfurl, like de-envelope. To develop in this way strongly implies a pre-determined pathway, the entity is (un)folding into its final planned form. Evolution describes the changes in a population of individuals over the course of multiple generations of life and death. The word evolve comes from the Latin word evolvere which, similarly and unfortunately, also means to unfold or unroll. The process of evolution however, unlike development, does not have a pre-determined end goal or planned target. Mixing up these two words, develop and evolve, can therefore cause real problems which can mislead us. The way we think is strongly shaped by the words we use, using the wrong words can lead us astray. If we use the term "develop" when talking about populations changing over time, our minds fill in the idea of a goal. But populations evolve without any end goal or plan, they don't develop at all - only individuals develop. #evolution #development #EvolutionExamples Music: The Goon's Loose by Nathan Moore (courtesy YouTube music)