On Darwin, And Survival
OK this is not a wine post, but I trained as a scientist, so along with the rest of the rational world this week I am acknowledging Darwin's 200th birthday.Poor Darwin – his carefully-developed hypothesis on the descent of man and the origin of species was mis-apprehended by some social theorists, and has since been mis-used to justify all sorts of horror. But a correct reading of Darwin actually does yield social metaphors and parables that are pertinent to the current uncertain times.
"Survival of the fittest." Reflect for a moment on all the class and racial bigotry and barbaric conduct this phrase has been used to justify in the last 150 years. In the context of human society, "fitness" is a value-laden concept equated with nebulous and self-serving measures of "worth."
Darwin's formulation was far more self-defining, clear and powerful: he proposed survival of the fittest to thrive under extant conditions – survival simply of the fittest to survive, and to reproduce.
In conditions of plenty, most members of a species are fit to reproduce regardless of any socially-derived definition of "fitness." The "struggle for survival" that Darwin described only obtains under conditions of scarcity, typically scarcity of resources and/or mating partners.
So here's my parable. Consider two groups: one is populated by big, well-formed, well-fed, wealthy, well-educated and morally upright individuals – in every way judged "fit" by society – while the other group are small, ugly, deprived, poor reprobates. Suddenly these two groups are separated from all potential mating partners by a wide desert.
They start across the desert together. The small ones have survived by doing without and conserving what little they have. The "fit" ones run out of water halfway across the desert, and the small ones avoid being killed by the "fit" ones for their water. The ones society judged the most "fit" will be bones in the desert while the reprobates are busy reproducing.
The moral of the parable: in tough times it is better to be lean than big, and tenacious enough to keep the big guys from taking your resources. Nothing else matters.
posted 2/12/2009 06:17:00 AM
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