We don't know how much information was required for the Cambrian explosion because we don't have DNA sequence information from that era. We can only guess based on the DNA sequence information of today or from recent (in geological terms) fossils frozen in ice cores, etc. All the DNA sequence info we have is actually extremely recent.
It's possible that the very long "boring" period before the Cambrian explosion was in reality when a whole lot of stuff was being evolved that later all came together to allow large scale cellular cooperation.
An analogy I like is a barn raising. If you watched a barn raising from very far away it would appear that nothing is happening and then boom, you get a barn. In reality the structure is being assembled slowly on the ground for a long time before anything "macro" happens. This analogy also comes up in regard to macroevolution and perhaps even abiogenesis.
BTW it's important to remember that modern evolutionary theory does not include a theory of abiogenesis. Life is assumed to exist and evolutionary theory deals with how it changes over time. The origin of life is a separate (albeit related) scientific question and one for which we do not currently have an established answer. There are many credible hypotheses but so far no way to really test them.
It's possible that the very long "boring" period before the Cambrian explosion was in reality when a whole lot of stuff was being evolved that later all came together to allow large scale cellular cooperation.
An analogy I like is a barn raising. If you watched a barn raising from very far away it would appear that nothing is happening and then boom, you get a barn. In reality the structure is being assembled slowly on the ground for a long time before anything "macro" happens. This analogy also comes up in regard to macroevolution and perhaps even abiogenesis.
BTW it's important to remember that modern evolutionary theory does not include a theory of abiogenesis. Life is assumed to exist and evolutionary theory deals with how it changes over time. The origin of life is a separate (albeit related) scientific question and one for which we do not currently have an established answer. There are many credible hypotheses but so far no way to really test them.