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What's funny is that the phrase itself is something of a tautology -- fitness in that context is basically having whatever attributes contribute to survival, so
by Qz 17y ago
What's funny is that the phrase itself is something of a tautology -- fitness in that context is basically having whatever attributes contribute to survival, so the phrase ends up meaning "survival of that which survives best" or even simpler, "survival of the survivors". Survival is the only measurable quality of fitness.
The other thing that can be confusing is that the timeframe of the statement is infinite. It's not saying "that which is still alive today is the fittest", but rather "that which is still alive infinitely far into the future is the fittest".
- deleted 17y ago[deleted]
- tokenadult 17y agohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survival_of_the_fittest http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survival_of_the_fittest "Darwin first used Spencer's new phrase 'survival of the fittest' as a synonym for 'natural selection' in the fifth edition of On the Origin of Species, published in 1869.[2][3] Darwin meant it is a metaphor for 'better adapted for immediate, local environment', not the common inference of 'in the best physical shape' [4]. Hence, it is not a scientific description,[5] and is both incomplete and misleading."