Talk:Survival of the fittest

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[edit] Gene-centric

Removed:

They also adopt a gene-centric view of evolution.

("They" referrrs to evolutionary scientists") This is irrelevant to the article, and is inaccurate from what I've heard, where evolutionists generally often focus on the individual organism as the unit of selection. This gets into the issue of "selection of" and "selection for", which are beyond the scope of this article.you are so retardBold textSmall Text AdamRetchless 21:39, 31 July 2005 (UTC)

Haven't you read The Selfish Gene? You ought to. Individual selection is usually more or less equivalent to gene selection, and it may be simpler to look at it that way, but reductionism is widely accepted. Dunc|☺ 21:47, 31 July 2005 (UTC)

I disagree with the presentation of the idea of 'survival of the fittest' as a tautology. Inherent in the statement is the idea that "those most fit to survive are the only ones who will or should." That's hardly a tautological statement.-McC 03:07, 30 August 2005 (UTC)

--

You are simply re-arranging the phrase, "those most fit to survive are the only ones who will or should" simply re-presents the same tautological statement. How do you then tell which creatures are the ones most fit? They survived. Its like saying "a circle is round".

You're right about the non-tautological character of the idea, but wrong if you think that it necessarily involves a 'should.' Even Spencer's reasoning was not that simply. --Christofurio 20:22, August 31, 2005 (UTC)
See my edits. "Survival of the fittest", when naively applied to individuals, is only one part of the story, and this part taken alone is indeed tautological. When the full picture is considered, the tautology falls down.--Thomas Arelatensis 19:37, 8 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Origin of the phrase

Okay, where does the phrase "survival of the fittest" come from? In this article it says that it was first mentioned in Social Statics. But if you follow the link on that article page to the online copy, and search that for either survival or fittest, then you find nothing. Please, someone with a proper encyclopedia on his/her shelf should look this one up. 80.126.3.128 20:29, 18 December 2005 (UTC)

A very good point. Some attribute it to Social Statics and some to First Principles of 1862, but it isn't in online versions of these texts, and a number of sources confirm more credibly that Spencer introduced the phrase “survival of the fittest” in (Principles of Biology [1864], vol. 1, p. 444).. ...dave souza 11:20, 19 December 2005 (UTC)
Well, then there is a heavy fault in the first sentence, as well as in the article about Herbert Spencer ; The Origins of Species appeared in 1859 ; so before Spencer. 205.236.147.59 (talk) 03:01, 23 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Tautology

This sentence taken from the current revision of the article:

Unfortunately, although in evolutionary biology the word "fitness" has nothing to do with being "fit" as fitness is measured in terms of survival and reproductive success, the similarity with the adjective "fit" leads many to charge the phrase "survival of the fittest" is equivalent to saying "survival of those who survive best" or "reproduction of those who reproduce most", i.e., that it is a tautology.

This can be rewritten as: "although fitness really means better survival and reproduction, some say that 'survival of the fittest' is equivalent to 'survival of those who survive best' or 'reproduction of those who reproduce most'". Well, duh ! Clearly this sentence is problematic.

The modern scientific of fitness is reproductive success (although this can be calculated in different ways). In the deprecated meaning that Spencer had in mind, the expression "survival of the fittest" ("survival of those who are better adapted for survival") is pretty much tautological. In the modern sense of the term ("survival of those who reproduce better"), it does not mean much. This is why scientists have stopped using it.

The fundamental problem with the expression "survival of the fittest" is that it does not take into account the key requirement of heritability. You can have survival of the fittest, and yet have no evolution at all, if this superior "fitness" (whether in the old or modern sense) is not based on heritable traits; but if this superior fitness is indeed based on heritable traits, evolution mechanically ensues. Check out the link to Ridley's explanation in the "external links" section.

Yes Marcosantezana (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · block user · block log) has been at the page with his somewhat "interpretive" views. You should see what he did to natural selection (see Wikipedia:Requests_for_arbitration/Marcosantezana). Basically, someone needs to go through it with a toothcomb, but there' no point trying to talk to him because won't get any response out of him. — Dunc|☺ 19:09, 29 March 2006 (UTC)

I've reverted his most revecent changes, but we ought to consider reverting to this version and simply reading through his changes for any useful bit. JeffBurdges 18:34, 3 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Needs source

The phrase is a metaphor, not a scientific description; and it is not generally used by biologists, who almost exclusively prefer to use the phrase "natural selection".

Such an argument requires a citation. Could anyone provide that? Aranherunar 12:50, 21 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] OR/POV

Example: In The Man Versus The State of 1884 Spencer used this phrase to reinforce his social theories, writing "Thus by survival of the fittest, the militant type of society becomes characterized by profound confidence in the governing power, joined with a loyalty causing submission to it in all matters whatever." Companies which offer better goods and services survive better in the marketplace and tend to accumulate an ever-growing market share. Poorly-adapting companies will be forced out by better-adapting ones: "killed" by the competition.

Spencer's work is badly cited here (it's in the postscript to the work)! Furthermore, the second clause about companies does not pertain to the cite provided here. Criticism of Spencer's use of the phrase should be properly sourced according to WP:NOR, after it is explained what Spencer actually meant. Incinerator2.0 22:45, 7 August 2006 (UTC)

Revamped the paragraph. It no longer claims that he was using the phrase to support his theories. In fact you could argue that Spencer's notion of "survival of the fittest" is quite different from Darwin's notion. It sounds like he could be talking about Lamarckian evolution, group selection, memetics, etc... all at the same time. Mistercupcake 04:53, 5 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] "tautology" section

the "tautology" section was quite obviously written by somebody who has not understood the claim to the statement's tautology, instead going on about a "modern sense of 'fit'" (presumably "physical fitness"), apparently unaware of the generic sense "suited, proper". The example just illustrates the concept all over again without addressing the tautology issue. The gazelle example,

The faster gazelle would therefore be "selected", i.e., it would have higher relative fitness than slower ones, etc, but not "because it is selected" but rather because it can run faster and thus can escape better

says illustrates an incidence of one criterion for fitness in a certain context, i.e. "fastness". But a fast gazelle is not just fit because it is fast, but because it lives in an environment where speed is beneficial. the same gazelle would not profit from its fastness in another environment (say, on an island with no predators). It is therefore not "fit because it is fast", but proves fit by being selected.

In the causality chain that leads from functional differences to higher absolute or realized fitness nothing is tautological, since fitness is simply a measurement of the result of selection, a result that is determined by one's biological functionality.

it is true that fitness is "simply a measurement of the result of selection", which is the entire point. It is unclear why this is supposed to be "not tautological". dab (ᛏ) 18:29, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Reproductive success not in Origin

Following the Tautology links section http://www.talkorigins.org/indexcc/CA/CA500.html "....What Darwin said is that heritable variations lead to differential reproductive success."

Where did Darwin say this reproductive success and differential appears nowhere in Origin of Species from http://www.gutenbergpress.org ? TongueSpeaker 18:59, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

Weiner appears to be paraphrasing Darwin's writings: a possible source is "Owing to this struggle for life, any variation, however slight and from whatever cause proceeding, if it be in any degree profitable to an individual of any species, in its infinitely complex relations to other organic beings and to external nature, will tend to the preservation of that individual, and will generally be inherited by its offspring. The offspring, also, will thus have a better chance of surviving, for, of the many individuals of any species which are periodically born, but a small number can survive. I have called this principle, by which each slight variation, if useful, is preserved, by the term of Natural Selection, in order to mark its relation to man's power of selection."[1] .. dave souza, talk 19:24, 23 March 2007 (UTC)
Possibly because reproductive success on Wikipedia redirects to Natural Selection. I just want to know who formally established that reproductive success means Natural Selection and where was it published. The word Natural Selection did'nt even exist before 1859 or am I mistaken? I know that Artificial Selection was only coined by Darwin in 1859. Reproductive success is one of the most widely used phrases in the Evolution literature and thus it must have it's own page on Wikipedia. What if cows were meant to produce beer instead of milk, would a cow still be a "success"? TongueSpeaker 22:10, 27 March 2007 (UTC)
It'd be ideal if we could track down the origin of the phrase "reproductive success", but I'm really not sure what you're getting at. Are you saying the term is somehow ill-defined? Ask any biologist today, and they'll give you an exact definition of reproductive success and explain precisely why it is the lynchpin of natural selection. The article on pulley says "It is not recorded when or by whom the pulley was first developed", but I think it's safe to say the idea of a pulley is well defined. No clue what that beercow comment is about; reproductive success has nothing to do with what an animal is "meant" to do.89.0.31.110 14:24, 3 April 2007 (UTC)

In the TalkOrigins link you show above, the paragraph including the statement "What Darwin said is that heritable variations lead to differential reproductive success." is attributed to Weiner, Jonathan. 1994. The Beak of the Finch. New York: Knopf. The term natural means of selection was used by Darwin in his essay of 1842 and his 1844 revision of his essay as published in 1858 includes the term natural selection. The 1842 essay says "But if man selects, then new races rapidly formed," the term artificial selection appears in The Origin in 1859. .. dave souza, talk 01:36, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

In this thread "What Naturaled and Who did the Selecting" http://groups.google.com/group/talk.origins/browse_thread/thread/38df9a9a127281a8/733affebf9ef9aca?lnk=st&q=&rnum=3#733affebf9ef9aca I was told that the phrase Micro Evolution in the Oxford English Dictionary is from 1911, citing the American Naturalist v. 45, p. 256. The first for Macro Evolution is Dobzhansky's "Genetics & Origin of Species".. Virtually nobody knows this because everybody seems to just invent new phrases as they go along. I still don't know who established Reproductive Success or when was the phrase used for the first time. Did Weiner formally establish this in 1994? And my point as I made still stands, Darwin did not use the word differential, yet everybody thinks he did. To clarify this confusion we should track down the person and first usage of the phrase and how this person formally established this concept in the same way the Fourier established the Fourier Transform. We are told that Evolution or NS is not circular in its argument. It is as though somebody has simply decreed that it is impossible to phrase Evolution, NS, Reproductive Success in a circular manner. In order to demonstrate that we are not using circular or tautological arguments, we must somehow agree on some way of formulating these concepts so that they are circular. Presently anybody and everybody simply postulates that this or that formulation of NS is circular or not, but we are never told who formally established it as such. TongueSpeaker 18:50, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

Wait, what? Evolution, simplified to omit lateral gene transfer, artificial selection, and all that jazz, is the diversification of life via the combination of mutation (predicated on the heritability of traits) and natural selection. An individual's reproductive success, simply put, is how long its genes remain in the gene pool. Natural selection is the idea that individuals well equipped to survive and reproduce in an environment do, and individuals poorly equipped to survive and reproduce don't. In other words, that creatures equipped for reproductive success in an environment are, indeed, reproductively successful. Exceedingly simple, but hardly circular. 89.0.31.110 14:24, 3 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Derive Fitness from first principles

Berlinski asked in his book that "Fitness" be derived from first principles: p.277 First edtion Black Mischief: "... In general trouble arises simply because the connection between biological traits and fitness is never derived from first principles. If the pig were to be born with wheels mounted on ball bearings instead of trotters, would it be better off on some scale of porcine fitness?"TongueSpeaker 16:28, 27 March 2007 (UTC)

There is no scale of porcine fitness. It really isn't that complex, y'know. If the pig passes on its genes, it is fit. The longer the genes stay in the gene pool, the fitter they are. End of story.89.0.31.110 14:06, 3 April 2007 (UTC)
Agreed. The term "fitness" can be troublesome in the finer points (see Dawkins, "The Extended Phenotype", chap. 10), but this quote makes no sense. Nobody cares how the pig gets higher reproductive success, as long as whatever caused this success is heritable. If it is, then it will mechanically propagate throughout the population, and if it is not, then it will mechanically die off. Please read the "tautology" section of this article again.--Thomas Arelatensis 12:49, 3 May 2007 (UTC)


[edit] Natural Selection also metaphor!

'The phrase is a metaphor, not a scientific description; and it is not generally used by biologists, who almost exclusively prefer to use the phrase "natural selection".' Kind of true but disguises the fact that "natural selection" is more of a metaphor. The word 'natural' in natural selection is often misunderstood. It does not mean natural in the sense of distinguising from the supernatural. It doesn't mean natural in the everyday sense of "the likely course of events without interference". It doesn't even mean "occuring in nature". Strictly, at least according to the original meaning, it means "performed by Mother Nature" and so natural selection is a least as metaphorical as "survival of the fitest"! — Axel147 22:34, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

In case you thought I was just being pedantic Wallace himself makes this point in a letter to Darwin!

My dear Darwin,— I have been so repeatedly struck by the utter inability of number of intelligent persons to see clearly, or at all, the self-acting and necessary effects of Natural Selection, that I am led to conclude that the term itself, and your mode of illustrating it however beautiful to many of us, are yet not the best adapted to impress it on the general naturalistic public...I think [the difficulty in understanding] arises almost entirely from your choice of the term Natural Selection, and so constantly comparing it in its effects to man's selection, and also to your so frequently personifying nature as 'selecting', as 'preferring', 'as seeking only the good of the species', etc., etc. To the few this is as clear as daylight, and beautifully suggestive, but to many it is evidently a stumbling block....I wish, therefore to suggest to you the possibility of entirely avoiding this source of misconception in your great work (if now not too late)...by adopting Spencer's term viz. 'Survival of the Fittest'. This term is a plain expression of the fact; 'Natural Selection' is a metaphorical expression of it, and to a certain degree indirect and incorrect, since, even personifying Nature, she does not so much select special variations as exterminate the most unfavourable ones.

— Axel147 20:37, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

This was published as Letter from A.R. Wallace to C. Darwin, July 2, 1866 (James Marchant, Alfred Russel Wallace. Letters and Reminiscences, Vol. I, p. 171, online [2]) -- 89.247.63.225 (talk) 19:18, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] "survival of the fittest" and morality

Do we really even need this? It's not POV to omit every bit of grossly fallicious creationist drivel that's about. --Pvednes 18:44, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

Despite your belief, creationism is still widely believed. Besides, this does go into morals. Hitler after all used this thought to kill Jews and promote the perfect Arian race. Not saying that this originally deals with morals, but after such people as Hitler, it is extremely controversial. -Yancyfry 03:12, 14 November 2007 (UTC)
Well, I appreciate that having expressed YEC ideas in Mein Kampf and having promoted Luther's ideas of persecuting Jews Hitler can be associated with creationism, but really these sort of connections are an over-simplification. ... dave souza, talk 18:42, 19 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Tautology Links

Four out of four of the links in the "Tautology Links" section lead to articles all sharing the same perspective. I have added a fifth link to an article sharing the other major perspective. If providing only a single perspective is your idea of balance please delete all links but those leading to articles with the same point of view. 76.29.90.227 03:01, 29 June 2007 (UTC)Steve

[edit] NS remains a tautology

To say that an airplane is a tautology is meaningless, nor does it stop the plane from flying. So too with NS; traits do lead to differential reproductive success. Of the two types of tautologies, rhetorical and logical, NS remains a rhetorical tautology in reference to its ability to explain genetic information. Just as the word "airplane" is not a tautology unless it is used as an explanation for why aircraft can fly, so NS is not a tautology unless used as an explanation for the origin of genetic information. A thing of itself is not a tautology. A thing used as an explanation for its own traits is a tautology. In fact, a thing used to explain its own traits results in a rhetorical tautology. Rhetorical and logical tautologies are different constructs that produce the same effect: circular reasoning. Circular reasoning results when one attempts to provide an explanation for one's axioms. What I am saying is that NS as an explanation for the origin of species is a statement of faith.

That some die explains not why others survive. That some survive does not explain genetic info. DNA causes replication and variation. The environment causes death. What causes genetic information? The very basis of evolution (reproduction and variation) is the outcome of genetic information. Yet what causes genetic information? The environment causes death, but the fact that some die does not explain why others survive. What causes genetic information? There is no natural selection without genetic information. Yet, what causes genetic information?

In summary, NS is a tautology when used as an explanation for the origin of genetic info, that is, when used to explain the origin of species, because genetic information causes the reproduction and variation from which nature can select. 76.29.90.227 03:45, 29 June 2007 (UTC)Steve

The problem is that "natural selection" is not what you seem to think it is. Have you read the "tautology" section of this article. Natural selection is not just survival of the fittest". Natural selection is the portion of the variation in reproductive success, that is caused by heritable characters. If variation in reproductive success is not caused by heritable characters, then it's not part of NS. Real NS does explain what you call "genetic information" (which I understand to mean "why useful genes are present in living creatures"). It's true that "survival of the fittest", on its own and taken out of context, cannot. That's no argument against NS. --Thomas Arelatensis 12:16, 29 June 2007 (UTC)

I would really appreciate if somebody found out where the phrase originates, especially since the versions on this page and Spencer's page tell quite different stories. Drivehonor 18:22, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for picking that up, good point. References added, the origin (but not the quote) is also given in Brittanica and in Desmond & Moore's Darwin. .. dave souza, talk 21:18, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] No longer accepted?

No... don't come here and yell at me. I'm simply asking this question. I was told recently that "Survival of the Fittest" is being replaced by another phrase.

Yes, scientists don't use this expression any more. Rather, the mechanism that drives evolution is called "natural selection" - Darwin's own original term. The reason is in the "tautology" section: "survival of the fittest" is just one part of the process, and on its own it is unable to explain adaptive evolution. Natural selection is, more or less, "increased survival (and reproduction) of the fittest, that is caused by heritable characters". --Thomas Arelatensis (talk) 16:20, 19 November 2007 (UTC)
Yup, for a long time it's been seen as problematic because "fittest" in biology means "best fitted" and not the popular modern usage of meaning athletic, or muscle men, or whatever. .. dave souza, talk 18:38, 19 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Multi-objective fitness?

Biological fitness is a multi-objective concept hence the statement "fittest" is inappropriate. The following statement is proposed "Survival is mostly for those with non-dominated fitness. E.Ahmed and A.S.Hegazi Mansoura EGYPT.

In modern evolutionary parlance, "fitness" is roughly a shorthand for "genetic contribution to future generations" - i.e. how much of his genetic material an individual managed to transmit to future generations. This is a single value, so multi-objective concepts are not needed. (Thomas Arelatensis, 10 Jan 2008)

[edit] Survival of the Fit

Would a mention of the phrase Survival of the fit belong on this page? It is actually the more correct phrases since, fittest implies that the evolutionary procecss chooses for perfection, which isn't the case. Also I've read in places that Survival of the fit predates fittest. 20 November 2006 (UTC)

Would a mention of the phrase survival of the fit belong on this page? Being more correct, since the evolutionary process does not result in the selection of the fittest, Wikipedia should welcome the change. 12 April 2008 (UTC)

I did more or less do this in the lead, with the mention of "survival of the fit enough". However, I see that the phrase "survival of the fit" has better referencing available ([3] [4] [5] [6]), so I might make some changes along those lines.--Father Goose (talk) 03:04, 12 April 2008 (UTC)