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> I mean just the basic concept of survival of the fittest, which doesn't require deep understanding of biology. Even that can be tricky for some people, sinc
by robonerd 4y ago
> I mean just the basic concept of survival of the fittest, which doesn't require deep understanding of biology.
Even that can be tricky for some people, since it requires people to think about fitness in a holistic way. But laypeople are culturally primed to think of athleticism. When talking to people skeptical of evolution, this sort of confusion comes up a lot. A lot of "If evolution makes things stronger then why were dinosaurs stronger than me?"
- eyelidlessness 4y agoThis. And, still biological, “why have some places selected for greater disability like deafness, or seeming disadvantages like below average height?” I don’t want to give too much weight to the “universal” concept, but it’s easy to imagine similar questions about why certain pockets of culture are places where seemingly disadvantaged traits thrive. “Fit” is probably something better explained literally for an introduction, as in fitting a particular set of circumstances. But that’s really complicated and not something everyone grasps when the language is almost always surrounded by superlatives.
- gus_massa 4y agoI'm not sure if I'm misunderstanding your comment, but some animals that live all their life in caves and some parasites are blind or have lost their eyes completely.