![]() ![]() UC Berkeley's Understanding Evolution site has a succinct explanation: “The fittest individual is not necessarily the strongest, fastest, or biggest… fitness includes ability to survive, find a mate, produce offspring - and ultimately leave in the next generation.â€ĭarwin, in On the Origin of Species, explained the concept of fitness through his theory of natural selection, which is a mechanism for change. ![]() Is an organism well adapted to its environment? Does it produce offspring that are also well adapted? Then it has high fitness. When talking about “fitness†in a scientific context, biologists don't use the term to mean “are you fit enough to run a 5K?†Instead, you can think of it more like a puzzle piece fitting into the greater image. ![]() And “survival of the fittest†is one of the worst, most pervasive misinterpretations of science that I can think of. However, the origins of this phrase still affect how we interpret evolutionary ideas today. Because of his supremacist views, Spencer (deservedly) faded out of popular opinion. ![]() Spencer was a white-supremacist and eugenicist, and you don't have to read much of his work for it to be obvious who he considers “civilized men†and who he considers “savages.†Spencer used Darwin's theories to try to explain that certain sectors of mankind would naturally dominate others that it was in our nature to crush others under our heels. Spencer was a contemporary of Darwin who philosophized on many topics, and while you can read his essays for free on Project Gutenberg… I'd advise that you don't. No, it was not Charles Darwin (though he picked up the phrase for later writings), but rather the writer Herbert Spencer. The hesitancy around the vaccines, as well as the continued refusal of many to wear facemasks that are proven to slow the spread of the virus, has led my peers and I to ask: how do we restore trust in science? Scientists often attempt to stay aloof from their social impact in an effort to remain unbiased in their research, but this also results in their findings being twisted to fit other narratives.Ī twisted idea I'd like to leave behind with this pandemic is the Social Darwinist idea of “survival of the fittest.†2020 was the year that I finally learned who coined that phrase. “Lockdown Protesters” by michael_swan is marked with CC0 1.0 ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |