# Intelligence Could Supersede Blind Evolution by J. D. Bernal > "It is quite conceivable that the mechanism of evolution, as we know it up to the present, may well be superseded at this point. Biologists are apt, even if they are not vitalists, to consider it as almost divine; but after all it is only nature's way of achieving a shifting equilibrium with an environment; and if we can find a more direct way by the use of intelligence, that way is bound to supersede the unconscious mechanism of growth and reproduction." > **— J. D. Bernal**, *1929, The World, the Flesh and the Devil, “The Flesh”* ## Sources and Context - **Full source:** [J. D. Bernal, “The Flesh,” complete chapter](https://bactra.org/Bernal/flesh/). Bernal proposes deliberate design as a possible successor to undirected biological adaptation. ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/Neurotech|Neurotech]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Consciousness Continuity|Consciousness Continuity]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Simple Reminders|Simple Reminders]] - **Article:** [[articles/Technologies for Consciousness Mapping and Transfer|Technologies for Consciousness Mapping and Transfer]] - **Article:** [[articles/Mind Uploading and AI — The Host is Reusable and the Person is the Delta|Mind Uploading and AI — The Host is Reusable and the Person is the Delta]] - **Article:** [[articles/We Were Never Going to Make It|We Were Never Going to Make It]] - **Wiki map:** [[wiki/Evolutionary Dynamics|Evolutionary Dynamics]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/The World, the Flesh and the Devil|The World, the Flesh and the Devil]] - [[wiki/Evolutionary Dynamics|Evolutionary Dynamics]] ## Share on Social Media ``` "It is quite conceivable that the mechanism of evolution, as we know it up to the present, may well be superseded at this point. Biologists are apt, even if they are not vitalists, to consider it as almost divine; but after all it is only nature's way of achieving a shifting equilibrium with an environment; and if we can find a more direct way by the use of intelligence, that way is bound to supersede the unconscious mechanism of growth and reproduction." — J. D. Bernal, 1929, The World, the Flesh and the Devil, “The Flesh” https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-bernal-intelligence-evolution ```