"survival of the fittest"---?
 

Hello all. In the expression "survival of the fittest", the word "fittest" seems most commonly understood as describing a physical attribute--strongest, most powerful or similar.
Is this common understanding leading to false conclusions concerning required behaviour as we look into the future? petex

From Wikipedia:

"Survival of the fittest" is a phrase that originated from Darwinian evolutionary theory as a way of describing the mechanism of natural selection. The biological concept of fitness is defined as reproductive success. In Darwinian terms the phrase is best understood as "Survival of the form that will leave the most copies of itself in successive generations."

Peacocks - female peacocks are attracted to males with the biggest most impressive tails but the tails make it harder to fly, Darwin called this sexual selection. It's regarded as separate from the survival of the fittest theory.

Could you explain a bit about this being a common misunderstanding?

Thanks for the Wikipedia entry baro-san.

Hello Snow Goose. Maybe it is just my experience- when I am aware of the expression being used in general conversation it seems to be used in the sense that only the physically strong will survive-- and almost as a vindication of physical domination. I mentioned something of this in the opening post but not sufficiently clearly I think. I was wondering if my experience in this regard is shared by other readers. petex

I think I did understand that's why I mentioned the sexual selection theory I just wasn't sure, it is said that Darwin himself asked the same questions you have that's where sexual selection theory comes from.

A human example I can think of is blue eyes, people with blue eyes have worse eyesight than those with brown. Way back when one of our ancestors was born with blue eyes where everyone else had brown, we as a species decided that this was an attractive trait and now you can see how common blue eyes are around the world.

Hello again Snow Goose. Thanks for the generational increase in number of blue eyes explanation.
Is there a connected yet separate study which concerns itself with what might be called behavioural evolution--ie. behaviour which is most likely to fit in with future conditions and circumstances( insofar as we are able to predict )? petex

Are you looking for something like this? http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full...45691610393528

Thanks Snow Goose. Opened home page ok. and found section on adaptive behaviour publications. Not sure if this may be relevant section to our topic here. Probably need to use laptop to read more. Not a great reader, time to do so maybe. petex

If you click on the link it should take to you to a paper called 'Evolutionary Theory and the Ultimate Proximate Distinction in the Human Behavioural Sciences'. I'm using my phone and it seems to work OK here in the UK.

Mankind unquestionably dominates the world, but his physical strength is nowhere near a lot of animals. I think this says something about 'the fittest' and physicality.