ELI5 : why does a species exist as separate organisms, instead of just one super entity that would have access to all the resources ?

Given enough time, a species on the planet could potentially evolve into what we would consider a "super being". But depending on how you define super, this being would still be limited. Evolution tends to focus more on niches than swis-army-knife-like utility. And the fact that so many organisms are competing for resources in the environment just lends to more niche evolution. But evolution never really goes above and beyond, as far as i know. Take an alligator for example. Some people might call them some sort of super being simply because they are apex predators that have gone unchanged for millions of years. They are extremely good at their niche, and they havent needed to evolve at all.

I guess what im saying is this: evolution is not a thinking thing, its just a process. And it is kickstarted by the needs of organisms. If an organism doesn't feel pressure from the environment to either change or be out-competed or die, then it probably wont change much. So the closest we can get to a super being without gene splicing is just an organism is suited to perfectly deal with the environment that it inhabits and the other organsims that live with it. But if you put an alligator in the desert its still going to die.

/r/explainlikeimfive Thread