3 ms·

Evolution doesn’t optimize for intelligence or lifespan, it optimizes for reproduction

• simonh 8y ago
  And therefore for those attributes which make one more likely to survive and reproduce in a given environment. On it's own, being stronger could be expected to make one more likely to have surviving offspring, but if it's at the cost of other detrimental effects like paranoia, excessive resource usage, shorter life span, etc then it might not be worth it. Similarly higher intelligence would be an advantage to survival and reproduction, but only if it doesn't come with excessive mitigating costs.