The Next Big Idea Daily Why the Universe Keeps Getting More Interesting
Mar 10, 2026
Susie Sheehy, physicist and author who tells the human stories behind experiments. Robert Hazen, geoscientist and mineral evolution expert. Michael Wong, astrobiologist proposing a law of rising functional information. They explore a universal evolutionary process behind complexity. They contrast serendipitous and hypothesis-driven experiments and trace how selection, information, and human creativity reshape matter, life, and technology.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Evolution Is A Universal Process
- Evolution is a universal process that builds complexity across minerals, ecosystems, cities, music, and AI.
- Robert Hazen and Michael Wong argue Darwinian natural selection is a special case within a broader law of increasing functional information.
A Second Arrow Of Time Tracks Increasing Order
- They propose a Second Arrow of Time that tracks increasing pattern, order, and complexity distinct from entropy's First Arrow.
- Functional information, not entropy, drives selection toward configurations that perform specific tasks better over time.
Three Selection Pressures Drive Evolution
- Three selection pressures drive evolution: static persistence, dynamic persistence, and novelty generation.
- Static persistence maintains existence; dynamic systems import low-entropy fuel; novelty generation creates new functions that aid persistence.
