Sunday, December 11, 2011

Survival of the Fittest...Fitting into the Crowd

I was walking down a street and I heard a sermon about "Survival of the fittest". About how Charles Darwin had suggested in his theory of evolution we should get rid of the ugly/fat/weak/smelly/dumb people to increase the chances of giving birth to "better" species. Probably in years to come the ugliest/least desirable humans would look like Denzel, Brad Pitt, and Beyonce with the intelligence of Stephen Hawking. Those weren't the specific words but that was the basic idea. They simply criticised the Law of Natural Selection Charles Darwin proposed from a religious angle.
I thought about it...in theory, getting rid of the least desirable humans should have its benefit BUT who determines who is not desirable? Who decides on who was ugly and shouldn't be allowed to have an offspring since he/she's genes contains "ugliness". The most important question I asked myself was "Did Charles Darwin propose that?"
In the song "Diallo" by Wyclef Jean he sang, "Survival of the fittest, only the strong will survive..." I have to make it clear at this point Darwin didn't coin the phrase, "survival of the fittest". It was Herbert Spencer. Others who related this phrase to the work of Darwin got it twisted. Some even reference Darwin on the Nazi's extermination of the Jews. He said "law of natural selection" not "law of discriminatory selection". The survival of the fittest in his context where those who best adapt to their environment.
Adaptation is very important...if you fail to, you get weeded out by the laws of natural selection. Take for instance you lived in an area close to a coast...you would have a better chance of survival if you could swim. When you bring that idea in a social context you would realise following the crowd might be the best way to fit in and survive. After all, what people say you are isn't who you really are. Take music for instance, sometimes a musician might have sing the kind of song he doesn't like to have a hit. Especially if the kind of song was what was reigning. I know a group of people might not be comfortable with "following the crowd" but majority indeed carries the vote. They determine trends and you just have to learn to fit in and when the majority decides to change to another trend you follow.

2 comments:

  1. Hmm...I never thought of it like that but it makes a lot of sense.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I agree with you to an extent.

    It is our ability to strive to be unique/different, do things in a different way. Ask 'why' what the rest of the animal kingdom accepted as normal that has kept us growing and adapting better than animals. It is that thinking that has made us even more accepting of those different from us - physical/mentally challenged. In lower species, the strange progeny is left to die.

    ReplyDelete