Though evolutionary progress is difficult to discern, surrogate parameters exist. Surrogate parameters involve imprecision. Though imprecise, those paramaters are chosen because they are easier to measure. They yield reliable results in most system, but one has to keep in mind, not in all.
Complexity
Complexity also is a quite abstract parameter and therefore often difficult to measure precisely. Though it is obvious, for instance, that our present society is far more complex than a hunter-gatherer society, it is nearly impossible to measure differences in complexity among present day nations. Moreover, it can become a problem to tell apart a complex and an overcomplicated fauceir.
In taking into account those problems with complexity surragate parameters for complexity are often used.
Fauceir content
Complexity roughly correlates with fauceir content. The reason for this correlation is twofold
- If the fauceir content increases, fauceirs have to evolve to manage that number. If it were not for those new organizing fauceirs the compound of fauceirs would break apart only.
- Organizing fauceirs increase both complexity and fauceir content.
Size
Size is rather a surrogate parameter of fauceir content as of course fauceir content increases with size. Size is the easiest a parameter to be measured, but it works only over a long period of time. Thus throughout human social evolution there is continuous increase in the number of inhabitants that precisely correlates with the level of social evolution. But, on the other hand, in human history we encountered periods when complexity did not match up with population size. That in medieval times caused secular cycles[Error: Wrong macro arguments: "4934" for macro 'ref' (maybe wrong macro tag syntax?)]
. In economy, such a mismatch between size and complexity is called overproduction cycles. In biology mass extinctions are the result of such a mismatch, so Dinosaurs did not die out because of some catastrophic event, but because of the emergence of the smaller but far mor complex mammals for which poikilotherm dinosaurs presented a large heap of meat during nighttime.
Decontextulization
As sub-fauceirs become more detached with evolutionary process because of the involvement of ever more fine-tuning fauceirs, decontextualization is a more precise parameter to evaluate evolutionary progress. Again, as decontextualization also reflects complexity it has not to be mixed with over complication.
Increased adaptability
Increased adaptability is an excellent parameter of evolutionary progress. As the aim of evolutionary progress can be defined as increased adaptability, this parameter may be called the paramount parameter of evolutionary progress. However it is listed as a surrogate parameter only because it can be measured indirectly only. The adaptability to a certain condition does not necessarilly correlate with adaptability to all possible or even the most common conditions. For instance, the resistance of some bacteria to penicillin does not correlate to their resistance against other antibiotics or even there resistance to 'normal' environmental conditions.
Longer priming
Throughout biological evolution the time consumed to raise a fully functioning ofspring increases with the level of evolution.
Increased entropy production
The entropy production increased with evolutionary progress.
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