There are no mistakes, only opportunities. What may seem too terrible to come back from, life sees as an opportunity to grow. A land slide which destroys the established life in the area, leads to a new landscape full of untapped potential for new niches to immerge. The destruction that reshapes the world leads to new oasis. Like sanitizer to a dirty surface. What is considered dirty is actually a thriving ecosystem of different life eating up all of the energy they can. When sprayed and wiped clean, what is left is a desolate wasteland. And yet, it will soon be repopulated by exploding populations of what survived the original incident and/or the surrounding lifeforms moving in. For what was once destroyed becomes an untapped oasis. No enemies, no problems, and energy abundant. That which lives there will eventually grow to thrive there.
Life will grow and spread as far as it can, changing to fit every unique environment along the way. From the original lifeform shall sprout many different variations; some will thrive and others will fail. It will lead to many different forms of conflict and mutualism. Then, one day, an event will happen. Everything will change. The life that once thrived in the environment they're surrounded in will have evolved far past being able to thrive in such a manner alone if at all. More than likely, there's another form of life that can thrive even more efficiently. The cycle will repeat again and again. Life will grow more complex as the generations continue to come and go. This will continue on infinitely and become something so simple and complex that it will no longer resemble its origins.
Every devastating event will lead to a loss of skill or information. What is a lifeform without it's experiences? If a human child was in an oasis alone, what would it become? Being surrounded by everything it needs, but no frame of reference for how it should react. It would not have a language, and if it did it would be so simple that it will have lost all complexity. What of a potential second generation? If a second child were dropped in, how would the first one react? With such limited understanding of how the world around it works, what could it teach the new participant?
Consider the above, and now think of a dog. A creature widely known and loved. Many are adopted out as puppies to create a stronger bond with their new owners. However, by doing so, it is unable to learn all it can from it's mother. And zooming farther out, what does the mother know? Does she have a similar story to the puppy about being pulled away too soon? After zooming out a few generations there's a clear problem. Lifeforms are complex, and they require several generations of intelligence to shape their true potential of language and complexity. The way we judge intelligence and complexity now is flawed. To truly believe that other lifeforms on this planet do not have their own thoughts, language, or similar complexities will lead to nothing. However, understanding and growing of that knowledge can lead to true growth.
