--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Natural selection is a mechanism for…" description: "\"Natural selection is a mechanism for generating an exceedingly high degree of improbability.\" — Ronald Fisher" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/656/ronald-fisher-14852_evolution_natural-selection-is-a-mechanism-for-gen_1599817.png" --- # Natural selection is a mechanism for generating an… ![“Natural selection is a mechanism for generating an exceedingly high degree of improbability.” quote by Ronald Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/656/ronald-fisher-14852_evolution_natural-selection-is-a-mechanism-for-gen_1599817.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/656/ronald-fisher-14852_evolution_natural-selection-is-a-mechanism-for-gen_1599817.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/656/ronald-fisher-14852_evolution_natural-selection-is-a-mechanism-for-gen_1599817.png) > “Natural selection is a mechanism for generating an exceedingly high degree of improbability.” [Ronald Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-fisher/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Natural selection creates highly unlikely complex forms through cumulative small changes over time. **In simple terms:** Evolution builds complexity from simple steps. Key Takeaway Embrace gradual change. Themes evolution probability complexity Mood thoughtful analytical Type scientific educational When to use this quote - biodiversity conservation - medical research - environmental policy - education on evolution Key Concepts genetics selection pressure Questions to Reflect On - How does randomness influence evolution? - Can small changes lead to large impacts? A Different Perspective Complex systems may also be shaped by random events, not just selection. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Degree Improbability](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/degree-improbability-4688141/) [Evolution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evolution/) [Generating Exceedingly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/generating-exceedingly-6081470/) [Improbability](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/improbability/) [Mechanism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mechanism/) [Natural](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/natural/) [Natural selection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/natural-selection/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Selection Mechanism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/selection-mechanism-6081471/) ## Related quotes > [For existential mathematics, which does not exist, would probably propose this equation: the value of coincidence equals the degree of its improbability.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/for-existential-mathematics-which-does-not-exist-would-probably/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [“Natural selection is not only a parsimonious, plausible and elegant solution; it is the only workable alternative to chance that has ever been suggested.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/natural-selection-is-not-only-a-parsimonious-plausible-and-elegant/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Let me lay my cards on the table. If I were to give an award for the single best idea anyone ever had, I'd…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-dennett/let-me-lay-my-cards-on-the-table-if-i-were-to-give-an-award-for-the/) [Daniel Dennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-dennett/) > [The fact that natural selection and evolution crafted essentially carbon and water into a mechanism that can think and be conscious means there's nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neill-blomkamp/the-fact-that-natural-selection-and-evolution-crafted-essentially/) [Neill Blomkamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neill-blomkamp/) > [The positive evidence for Darwinism is confined to small-scale evolutionary changes like insects developing insecticide resistance…Evidence like that for insecticide resistance confirms the Darwinian…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-a-dembski/the-positive-evidence-for-darwinism-is-confined-to-small-scale/) [William A. Dembski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-a-dembski/) > [In short, evolution is as close to being a scientific fact as is possible for any theory, given that science is open - ended…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-j-stenger/in-short-evolution-is-as-close-to-being-a-scientific-fact-as-is/) [Victor J. Stenger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-j-stenger/) > [We may consequently state the fundamental theorem of Natural Selection in the form: The rate of increase in fitness of any organism at any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-fisher/we-may-consequently-state-the-fundamental-theorem-of-natural/) [Ronald Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-fisher/) > [Natural Selection is not Evolution. Yet, ever since the two words have been in common use, the theory of Natural Selection has been employed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-fisher/natural-selection-is-not-evolution-yet-ever-since-the-two-words-have/) [Ronald Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-fisher/) > [Natural selection is not evolution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-fisher/natural-selection-is-not-evolution/) [Ronald Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-fisher/) > [We are the accidental result of an unplanned process ... the fragile result of an enormous concatenation of improbabilities, not the predictable product of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/we-are-the-accidental-result-of-an-unplanned-process-the-fragile/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [“I had a dream about you last night... I was a brick and you were a blanket. Damn that improbability drive.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-mckay/i-had-a-dream-about-you-last-night-i-was-a-brick-and-you-were-a/) [Nicole McKay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-mckay/) > [One day my heart and soul will realize the impossible improbability my mind already knows..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melchor-lim/one-day-my-heart-and-soul-will-realize-the-impossible-improbability/) [Melchor Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melchor-lim/) > [The argument from improbability, properly deployed, comes close to proving that God does not exist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/the-argument-from-improbability-properly-deployed-comes-close-to/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [But there are times when men have serious thoughts, and it is at such times, when they begin to think, that they begin to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/but-there-are-times-when-men-have-serious-thoughts-and-it-is-at-such/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [“For random events to produce even a single protein would seem a stunning improbability—like a whirlwind spinning through a junkyard and leaving behind a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/for-random-events-to-produce-even-a-single-protein-would-seem-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Ronald Fisher > [ \[Coining the phrase "test of significance"\] Critical tests of this kind may be called tests of significance, and when such tests are available we… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-fisher/coining-the-phrase-test-of-significance-critical-tests-of-this-kind/) [Ronald Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-fisher/) > [We can set no limit to human potentialities; all that is best in man can be bettered; it is not a question of producing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-fisher/we-can-set-no-limit-to-human-potentialities-all-that-is-best-in-man/) [Ronald Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-fisher/) > [If ... we choose a group of social phenomena with no antecedent knowledge of the causation or absence of causation among them, then the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-fisher/if-we-choose-a-group-of-social-phenomena-with-no-antecedent-knowledge/) [Ronald Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-fisher/) > [The statistician cannot evade the responsibility for understanding the process he applies or recommends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-fisher/the-statistician-cannot-evade-the-responsibility-for-understanding/) [Ronald Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-fisher/) > [Modern statisticians are familiar with the notion that any finite body of data contains only a limited amount of information on any point under…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-fisher/modern-statisticians-are-familiar-with-the-notion-that-any-finite/) [Ronald Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-fisher/) > [The academic mind, as we know, is sometimes capable of assuming an aggressive attitude. The official mind, on the contrary, is and has to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-fisher/the-academic-mind-as-we-know-is-sometimes-capable-of-assuming-an/) [Ronald Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-fisher/) > [However, perhaps the main point is that you are under no obligation to analyse variance into its parts if it does not come apart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-fisher/however-perhaps-the-main-point-is-that-you-are-under-no-obligation-to/) [Ronald Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-fisher/) > [... no scientific worker has a fixed level of significance at which from year to year, and in all circumstances, he rejects hypotheses; he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-fisher/no-scientific-worker-has-a-fixed-level-of-significance-at-which-from/) [Ronald Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-fisher/) > [The analysis of variance is not a mathematical theorem, but rather a convenient method of arranging the arithmetic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-fisher/the-analysis-of-variance-is-not-a-mathematical-theorem-but-rather-a/) [Ronald Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-fisher/) > [Natural selection is not evolution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-fisher/natural-selection-is-not-evolution/) [Ronald Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-fisher/) > [The best causes tend to attract to their support the worst arguments, which seems to be equally true in the intellectual and in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-fisher/the-best-causes-tend-to-attract-to-their-support-the-worst-arguments/) [Ronald Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-fisher/) > [If one in twenty does not seem high enough odds, we may, if we prefer it, draw the line at one in fifty (the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-fisher/if-one-in-twenty-does-not-seem-high-enough-odds-we-may-if-we-prefer/) [Ronald Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-fisher/) > [No aphorism is more frequently repeated in connection with field trials, than that we must ask Nature few questions, or, ideally, one question, at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-fisher/no-aphorism-is-more-frequently-repeated-in-connection-with-field/) [Ronald Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-fisher/) > [We have the duty of formulating, of summarizing, and of communicating our conclusions, in intelligible form, in recognition of the right of other free…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-fisher/we-have-the-duty-of-formulating-of-summarizing-and-of-communicating/) [Ronald Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-fisher/) > [Fairly large print is a real antidote to stiff reading.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-fisher/fairly-large-print-is-a-real-antidote-to-stiff-reading/) [Ronald Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-fisher/) [Explore all 45 Ronald Fisher quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-fisher/) ## More Evolution quotes > [I rap when I'm rich. I rap when I'm broke. I rap when I'm bullshit in the street. I rap about only having one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/killer-mike/i-rap-when-i-m-rich-i-rap-when-i-m-broke-i-rap-when-i-m-bullshit-in/) [Killer Mike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/killer-mike/) > [At the deepest level, all living things that have ever been looked at have the same DNA code. And many of the same genes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/at-the-deepest-level-all-living-things-that-have-ever-been-looked-at/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [“A question for Christians who accept evolution: When did we gain a "soul"? Did Homo habilis have a soul? Homo ergaster? Did God only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-g-mcafee/a-question-for-christians-who-accept-evolution-when-did-we-gain-a/) [David G. McAfee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-g-mcafee/) > [If the polymer chain assumes a helicoidal conformation in the crystalline state, and if it does not contain asymmetric carbon atoms, it can be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giulio-natta/if-the-polymer-chain-assumes-a-helicoidal-conformation-in-the/) [Giulio Natta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giulio-natta/) > [“Genetics is a science full of gods, Mr. Sanchez.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/valeria-luiselli/genetics-is-a-science-full-of-gods-mr-sanchez/) [Valeria Luiselli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/valeria-luiselli/) > [We became Homo sapiens not that long ago, from the scientific perspective, and we've retained a lot of our beast nature. We've done all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wangechi-mutu/we-became-homo-sapiens-not-that-long-ago-from-the-scientific/) [Wangechi Mutu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wangechi-mutu/) > [Guns have little or nothing to do with juvenile violence. The causes of youth violence are working parents who put their kids into daycare,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-delay/guns-have-little-or-nothing-to-do-with-juvenile-violence-the-causes/) [Tom DeLay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-delay/) > [The fact -- not theory -- that evolution has occurred and the Darwinian theory as to how it occurred have become so confused in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-gaylord-simpson/the-fact-not-theory-that-evolution-has-occurred-and-the-darwinian/) [George Gaylord Simpson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-gaylord-simpson/) > [Perhaps no order of mammals presents us with so extraordinary a series of gradations as this \[step by step, from humans to apes to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/perhaps-no-order-of-mammals-presents-us-with-so-extraordinary-a/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [Evolution happens in jumps, very rapidly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-ferguson/evolution-happens-in-jumps-very-rapidly/) [Marilyn Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn-ferguson/) > [The true nature of soul is right knowledge, right faith and right conduct. The soul, so long as it is subject to transmigration, is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virchand-gandhi/the-true-nature-of-soul-is-right-knowledge-right-faith-and-right/) [Virchand Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virchand-gandhi/) > [“Toshiaki learned that all living organisms were governed by their DNA. He was impressed by perfection of this system.Why did existence have the ability…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hideaki-sena/toshiaki-learned-that-all-living-organisms-were-governed-by-their-dna/) [Hideaki Sena](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hideaki-sena/) > [The shelves of many evangelicals are full of books that point out the flaws in evolution, discuss it only as a theory, and almost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-collins/the-shelves-of-many-evangelicals-are-full-of-books-that-point-out-the/) [Francis Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-collins/) > [I'm all about evolution. I'm the first person to judge myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/the-weeknd/i-m-all-about-evolution-i-m-the-first-person-to-judge-myself/) [The Weeknd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/the-weeknd/) > [The next evolution of content marketing is not more content; it's better distribution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-penn/the-next-evolution-of-content-marketing-is-not-more-content-it-s/) [Chris Penn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-penn/) [Browse all 6,185 Evolution quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evolution/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Natural selection is a mechanism for generating an exceedingly high degree of improbability.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ronald Fisher" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-fisher/natural-selection-is-a-mechanism-for-generating-an-exceedingly-high/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Evolution" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-fisher/natural-selection-is-a-mechanism-for-generating-an-exceedingly-high/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/656/ronald-fisher-14852_evolution_natural-selection-is-a-mechanism-for-gen_1599817.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/656/ronald-fisher-14852_evolution_natural-selection-is-a-mechanism-for-gen_1599817.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/656/ronald-fisher-14852_evolution_natural-selection-is-a-mechanism-for-gen_1599817.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Natural selection is a mechanism for generating an exceedingly high degree of improbability.” — Ronald Fisher", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Ronald Fisher", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-fisher/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Natural selection is a mechanism for...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-fisher/natural-selection-is-a-mechanism-for-generating-an-exceedingly-high/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-fisher/natural-selection-is-a-mechanism-for-generating-an-exceedingly-high/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```