In 1859, Charles Darwin staked his theory on this argument: it would be impossible in nature for any feature to arise in any species that exclusively benefits another species. If only one such case was proven, his theory would be „annihilated“. Furthermore, he argued that artificial selection deviates from this strict regularity, as it would produce characteristics in plants and animals that benefit not themselves but humans. Here we explain why Darwin has never been disproved on this and why the respective phenomena should be a priority topic in empirical physics. We define the Law of Evolutionary Stability (LES) within a physically grounded theory. It stems from the properties of the element carbon and a resulting uncontrollably high complexity of all carbon-based biological systems, causing life forms to remain evolutionarily stable only if the selection of their traits is primarily for their own advantage. We propose uncontrollable complexity as fundamental physical parameter of life. In anticipation, we suggest assuming that carbon-based life is a regular phenomenon in the observable universe, so that the LES can be regarded as a universal physical law. For humanity it is crucial, since the evolutionary manipulations in agriculture run counter to it. However, it appears that relevant aspects—such as Darwin’s mentioned observation—were considered uncomfortable and excluded from natural sciences. As a result, agricultural methods have been intensified without sufficient critical assessment. Increasing evidence now points to a far-reaching evolutionary dead end. In addition, we will outline possible solutions for mitigating this situation orderly.
Steffen Pichler (2026) studied this question.