RE: Evolution and natural selection ARE the gods of this world!
June 13, 2015 at 12:46 pm
(This post was last modified: June 13, 2015 at 1:53 pm by Anomalocaris.)
Actually, flight and wings coevolved. Neither happened either for or because of the other. Each happened along meandering paths in minute increments, feeding back into the other only as opportunities may arise.
Also, surviving of the fittest means survival of that which is the fittest to survive, not that which is most muscular or most cardiovascularly well endowed. But survival of the fittest is indeed a misrepresentation of evolution by natural selection for a different reason. Natural selection is not directly about the survival of the fittest because:
1. It is not always that which is the fittest to survive that actually survives. It is that which is the luckiest. Fitness to survival only marginally skew the odds in favor of the fittest.
2. Evolution is not about survival. It is about passing on the trait. Survival, up to a point, is essential, but not sufficient. Any trait that helped the survivor to survive up to the point must also be heritable, and be successfully passed on. It is actually easy to imagine scenarios in which excessive fitness to survive is actually counterproductive for the purpose of passing on the fitness trait.
Also, surviving of the fittest means survival of that which is the fittest to survive, not that which is most muscular or most cardiovascularly well endowed. But survival of the fittest is indeed a misrepresentation of evolution by natural selection for a different reason. Natural selection is not directly about the survival of the fittest because:
1. It is not always that which is the fittest to survive that actually survives. It is that which is the luckiest. Fitness to survival only marginally skew the odds in favor of the fittest.
2. Evolution is not about survival. It is about passing on the trait. Survival, up to a point, is essential, but not sufficient. Any trait that helped the survivor to survive up to the point must also be heritable, and be successfully passed on. It is actually easy to imagine scenarios in which excessive fitness to survive is actually counterproductive for the purpose of passing on the fitness trait.
