I see a lot of threads about evolution but none about why evolution "is".
Am I right in thinking that the entirety of evolution (according to modern science) happened because of errors?
If this is true doesn't it tell you something about the universe or reality?
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There are no errors if there is no plan
When we say a species evolved, we are saying it had a mutation which helped it survive in their environment.
So yes, its actually a mistake in the formation of the DNA that turned out to be useful for the species.
Random mutations.
Non random selection.
That's all it is.
It's not a mistake, the term mistake conveys intent. There is no intent in the process of evolution.
Why aren't people talking about epigenetics more? Isn't the whole random mutations thing being moved away from? Environment plays a much more proactive role.
No.
Try any stochastic simulation with an accept/reject algorithm, and you'll see that random events with selection can converge to a useful result.
For further reading, google
epigenetics pz myers pharyngula
In summary: Most epigenetic changes are explicitly reset in plants and animals during sexual reproduction. The few remaining epigenetic changes that survive past that rarely survive more than a few generations. For almost all intents and purposes, there is no stable inheritable epigenetics over many generations, which is precisely what is required for natural selection to start kicking in.
There are exceptions, but they're rare.
PS: Epigenetics isn't new. It's just evo devo. It's not like it was just discovered 5 years ago or something. Again, read some of those PZ Myers blog posts. He's an expert in evo devo, and he knows what he's talking about, and he's a good teacher and good writer.