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Neither of those are widespread in any population. Quite the opposite, they flare up and then vanish.

• mikeash 11y ago
  Fair enough with Nazism. How about war instead? Malaria seems to persist quite well, and doesn't vanish.
  • Natsu 11y ago
    When I say "widespread" I'm thinking of being relatively constant for centuries. The sad thing is that war probably is adaptive on some horrific level. I'd trouble naming a country that hasn't survived a war in its past and which has been around for at least a couple centuries.
    • mikeash 11y ago
      War is one of those things that's absolutely a survival advantage if everyone else does it but which is nothing but destructive compared to a hypothetical world where nobody does it. Thus we all get pushed into it, even though it's a massive net negative. Which is incidentally like a lot of other destructive ideas and traditions.
      • Natsu 11y ago
        It's more of a prisoner's dilemma. It's great as long as nobody else starts one.