ABSTRACT

This chapter distinguishes between two types of process in time: predictable and unpredictable processes. It argues that in biology the concepts of evolution, particularly the notions of phenotype and genotype, have been developed and applied. The chapter discusses evolutionary concepts to physics and to economics and shows why physics is 'easy' and economics is 'difficult', with biology 'in between', because of the different relationships between genotypic and phenotypic evolution in the three disciplines. It also discusses the importance of ex post and ex ante considerations for conceptualising evolution and offers some conclusions for economic analysis, and suggests some directions for future research. The processes it is appropriate to note that actual processes lie on a continuum with regard to their predictability. The phenotype represents the 'realisation' of these potentialities, in as far as is permitted by the environment of this organism. The genetic potential of a biological system of organisms could be listed to give that population's 'macro-genotype'.