Survival of the Fittest Charles Darwin

Survival of the fittest was first used by British philosopher Herbert Spencer. Then it was used by Charles Darwin. Herbert Spencer first used the phrase after reading Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species. He used this term in his Principles of Biology (1864). He drew parallels between his own economic theories and Darwin’s biological ones. He writes that this survival of the fittest is expressed in mechanical terms. Darwin called ‘natural selection’, or the preservation of favored races in the struggle for life.

Survival of the Fittest

Charles Darwin and “Survival of the Fittest”

Charles 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. Darwin meant it as a metaphor for “better adapted for immediate, local environment. It is not the common inference of in the best physical shape, Hence, it is not a scientific description.

Differential Reproductive Success

The phrase “survival of the fittest” is not generally used by modern biologists. This term does not accurately convey the meaning of natural selection. Natural selection refers to differential reproduction as a function of traits that have a genetic basis. “Survival of the fittest” is inaccurate for two important reasons. First, survival is merely a normal prerequisite to reproduction. Second, fitness has specialized meaning in biology different from how the word is used in popular culture. In population genetics, fitness refers to differential reproduction. “Fitness” does not refer to whether an individual is “physically fit” – bigger, faster or stronger or “better” in any subjective sense. It refers to a difference in reproductive rate from one generation to the next.

Differential Reproductive Success

Survival of the Fittest Meaning

An interpretation of the phrase “survival of the fittest” to mean “only the fittest organisms will prevail. It is not consistent with the actual theory of evolution. Any individual organism which succeeds in reproducing itself is “fit” and will contribute to survival of its species, not just the “physically fittest” ones. A more accurate characterization of evolution would be “survival of the fit enough”. “Survival of the fit enough” is also emphasized by the fact that while direct competition has been observed between individuals, populations and species, there is little evidence that competition has been the driving force in the evolution of large groups. For example, between amphibians, reptiles and mammals; rather these animals have evolved by expanding into empty ecological niches.