Survival of the fittest
What is survival of the fittest when looking at animals? That is the typical definition of survival of the fittest in its natural habitat. Survival of the fittest in the animal kingdom is much more prominent and thus plays a larger role. It affects animals every second of every day of their lives. In a split moment they could die all because they were not the “fittest”.
Survival of the fittest is those with the best traits are able to reproduce their traits to their offspring through the process of natural selection. It also works in the opposite direction in that those with the weakest traits get hunted and killed off. Therefore, they cannot reproduce and pass on their traits that were not the “fittest”.
This process is completely natural. The stronger lions kill off weaker gazelles and thus the lion’s genes can be passed on whereas the gazelles’ cannot. The weak lions that cannot catch any gazelle cannot obtain enough food and die off. Therefore the weak lions’ genes cannot be passed on. The strong gazelles who are not caught by the lions can live and pass on their genes to the next generation. Therefore the "'fittest' tend to pass on more of their genes to the next generation. Survival of the fittest is the natural way the animal kingdom works.
Survival of the fittest is those with the best traits are able to reproduce their traits to their offspring through the process of natural selection. It also works in the opposite direction in that those with the weakest traits get hunted and killed off. Therefore, they cannot reproduce and pass on their traits that were not the “fittest”.
This process is completely natural. The stronger lions kill off weaker gazelles and thus the lion’s genes can be passed on whereas the gazelles’ cannot. The weak lions that cannot catch any gazelle cannot obtain enough food and die off. Therefore the weak lions’ genes cannot be passed on. The strong gazelles who are not caught by the lions can live and pass on their genes to the next generation. Therefore the "'fittest' tend to pass on more of their genes to the next generation. Survival of the fittest is the natural way the animal kingdom works.
How does this affect society?
Survival of the fittest goes on in the Animal Kingdom every second all around us. As humans, we are sheltered from this notion of survival of the fittest. We are consumed with our lives and forget about nature around us. Instead of the typical definition of survival of the fittest as with the lion and gazelle, there are ways of survival of the fittest seen in society. All of this still support Coates' fourth idea of nature, that nature is a guide. Due to the lack of predators, humans have thus manipulated the term survival of the fittest to fit around life as we know it. Instead of fighting for our lives to pass on genes, we fight in the economy, against one another to obtain the best quality of life. We fight against disease to prolong life. We fight against the natural world around us. We got to a point where we completely understood survival of the fittest and were able to apply to humans (Coates, 1998).
Pictures:
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Oa6uibbzFOg/ScjyAn8-dRI/AAAAAAAABHw/oCuwkvuPgD4/s400/lion_gazelle.jpg
http://wildlifeanimalz.blogspot.com/2012/11/African-Lions.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtsLv2kp3Tk
