Krishna Wisdom

Main Menu

  • Home
  • FAQs
  • Free wisdom ebooks
  • Discuss philosophy
    • Questions archive
    • Ask a question
  • Wisdom Blog
  • Find Us
    • Bhaktivedanta Manor, Watford
    • UK Groups

logo

Krishna Wisdom

  • Home
  • FAQs
  • Free wisdom ebooks
    • IQ EQ SQ - Spiritual Quotient

      May 13, 2017
      0
    • Tattva

      May 13, 2017
      0
    • Gita Life

      May 13, 2017
      0
    • Bhakti Life

      May 13, 2017
      0
  • Discuss philosophy
    • Questions archive
    • Ask a question
  • Wisdom Blog
  • Find Us
    • Bhaktivedanta Manor, Watford
    • UK Groups
Science corner
Home›Science corner›Survival of the fittest

Survival of the fittest

By Researcher Ryan
December 28, 2016
1449
0
Share:

Why did you step all over that guy? ‘Well, it’s survival of the fittest isn’t it!’

Why have children? ‘You’ve got to pass on your genes, right?!’

What’s the point of life? ‘No one knows, so just enjoy it now because your time could be up at any moment’

We can all recognise these answers, and we’ve probably all used them as a basis for a decision at some point in time. I’ll be the first to put my hands up and say that the reason these three came so quickly to mind is because they are etched in my memory as previously being essential ‘mantras’ for my understanding of the world.

Now, let’s be good scientists and try to understand, ‘what is the basis of truth for these tenets?’ In this post we’ll go into ‘survival of the fittest’.

Survival of the fittest

This is the classical Darwinian evolution notion that only those organisms with the attributes (phenotypes) most adapted to a specific environment will survive in that environment. The phenomenon whereby organisms who do not cut the mustard are wiped out is referred to as natural selection…but in fact, if we consider the modern theory that nature is ‘blind’, acting without intention, then a better description of this destructive force would be natural elimination.

Example: A bacterial population may be wiped out by application of an antibiotic, however those bacteria who are resistant to the antibiotic proliferate, giving rise to a generation of antibiotic-resistant bacteria

It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change – Darwin

The way I understand this, is that we as humans especially, have a remarkable capacity to be flexible and open-minded. This is an incredible opportunity. The flip side, as we see often, is that we can become dogmatic and fixed in our beliefs, even if they don’t hold up to scrutiny.

Logically, what I’m about to say shouldn’t be a revolutionary concept, yet for the past hundred years it has remained so…

Natural elimination (leading to survival of the fittest) is not the only game in town.

Stop the press! ‘What did he say, and how dare he go against the core principle of evolutionary biology!’

Yes, two years ago I would have felt exactly the same. But here’s the issue…

…Now, I don’t expect anyone to drop all their current beliefs in nature as a cruel eliminating machine, because clearly this is part of the way the world works…but honestly, aside from being very cute, where in the programming (or genes, or whatever we think might constitute ‘programming’) of a chimpanzee is there the flexibility to have a loving hug with such a ferocious predator (well, perhaps it isn’t at this point)? In university I would have been marked down for saying ‘loving hug’ because this is referred to as anthropocentric language (ie. how can I know that the animal feels love). However, I know what a loving hug looks like, and I know what a robot is like, and I would hedge an educated guess that this is the former.

We could go into this all day, throwing out examples and even more cute pictures, however my feeling is that this ruins all the fun. Part of the joy of life isn’t just in thinking about unconscious processes such as gene regulation and ridiculously complex neural pathways, which undoubtedly exist within our bodies, but rather to embrace the natural wonders in the world around us, and to be awestruck. Allowing ourselves to be amazed at the sheer scale of organisation in this universe, or even at the level of harmony in a bee hive or ant colony, we must become humbled if we are really appreciating what we are experiencing.

In science we are digging deep into the mysteries of the nano-universe, for example in the fields of molecular biology and particle physics. And let’s also look at the big picture; what have we discovered? Particle physicists are being exposed to a particle zoo, and molecular biologists are witnessing the most exquisite sub-cellular factories one could imagine. Yet when we look into nature, it all appears seamless and wonderful. Even our clunky and sometimes undesirable behaviours come about as if by magic, yet we know that the vast super-computer that is our body is operating in the background, working silently and efficiently to permit us as the end-user to squeeze the juice out of life, in whichever way we wish.

And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who couldn’t hear the music — Nietzsche

Tagsdarwinevolutionsurvival
Previous Article

Why the evolution theory is still evolving

Next Article

Flawed vision

Share:

Researcher Ryan

Ryan's a scientist with an interest in explaining the unexplainable. After all, that’s what gets scientists going. He loves talking about the mysterious nature of the universe, and how it is that life ‘just works!’ Isn’t it amazing that you don’t have to bark orders at your leg to move every time you walk, or that you need not constantly panic that you haven't made your heart beat for a while? His writings delve into the question of ‘what is consciousness’, from scientific and philosophical perspectives, and get everyone's brain buds jumping around with excitement at the possibility of a future science that knows no bounds.

Related articles More from author

  • Science corner

    Why the evolution theory is still evolving

    December 21, 2016
    By Apprentice Monk
  • Science corner

    Brain Dead

    July 28, 2016
    By Researcher Ryan
  • Science corner

    How to be a good atheist

    February 19, 2017
    By Apprentice Monk
  • Science corner

    Where’s the gander?

    August 28, 2016
    By Researcher Ryan
  • Science corner

    The fast lane

    July 7, 2018
    By Researcher Ryan
  • Science corner

    Blue Skies

    March 21, 2017
    By Researcher Ryan

Leave a reply Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Recommended for you

  • Reflections

    The yoga of love

  • Reflections

    Willing and able

  • Interactive & Quiz

    The happiness quotient quiz

Feeling inquisitive?

Ask a question and allow us to scratch your philosophical itch and bring you some peace!


 

Post Categories

Quiz and Courses

EventsInteractive & Quiz

The Mystic India Retreat 2023

  • The Soulful Saturday Experience

    By Radha Govinda das
    April 30, 2022

Timeline

  • October 8, 2022

    The Mystic India Retreat 2023

  • July 20, 2022

    Be part of the Krishna Wisdom tribe

  • April 30, 2022

    The Soulful Saturday Experience

  • March 1, 2022

    Soul Expressions

  • November 20, 2021

    The Simple Retreat

  • Recent

  • Popular

  • Comments

  • The Mystic India Retreat 2023

    By Radha Govinda das
    October 8, 2022
  • Be part of the Krishna Wisdom tribe

    By Radha Govinda das
    July 20, 2022
  • The Soulful Saturday Experience

    By Radha Govinda das
    April 30, 2022
  • Soul Expressions

    By Radha Govinda das
    March 1, 2022
  • The Simple Retreat

    By Radha Govinda das
    November 20, 2021
  • IN ESSENCE: An online course – Soul, Karma, Reincarnation, Meditation, Yoga and Relationships

    By Apprentice Monk
    December 1, 2018
  • These 3 secrets of meditation will transform your life

    By Apprentice Monk
    April 25, 2017
  • The happiness quotient quiz

    By Apprentice Monk
    March 26, 2017
  • How not to meditate

    By Apprentice Monk
    November 30, 2016
  • Mind Body Soul – Bhakti yoga for beginners

    By Radha Govinda das
    February 7, 2021
  • Radha Govinda das
    on
    May 25, 2022

    These 3 secrets of meditation will transform your life

  • Radha Govinda das
    on
    May 25, 2022

    BEAMONK

  • Radha Govinda das
    on
    May 25, 2022

    Groups in the UK

  • Radha Govinda das
    on
    May 25, 2022

    Groups in the UK

  • Marianne
    on
    May 21, 2022

    Groups in the UK

Tag Cloud

animated (3) animation (3) atheism (3) atheist (3) bhagavad (9) bhakti (4) body (5) care (2) cartoon (3) compassion (3) consciousness (3) death (3) devotional service (3) earth (2) eastern (3) ebook (4) free (4) getaway (3) gita (10) god (7) happiness (3) hare (5) karma (9) krishna (12) life (12) love (17) lust (2) mantra (4) meditation (11) mind (6) peace (5) philosophy (3) problems (2) reincarnation (10) relationship (5) retreat (3) science (6) service (3) sex (3) soul (14) spiritual (22) spirituality (16) wisdom (10) world (2) yoga (18)

What is Krishna Wisdom?

Krishna Wisdom is a spiritual initiative based at Bhaktivedanta Manor, working in collaboration with School of Bhakti that is aimed at providing spiritual wisdom to seekers of spirituality and philosophy.

We believe that ‘Change begins within’ and hence, an inner transformation precedes universal betterment.

Our aim is to provide knowledge and wisdom of spiritual matters through events, music, courses and most of all – love and spiritual friendship.

© Krishna Wisdom, School of Bhakti, Bhaktivedanta Manor, 2022

Login

Forgot Password?

Insert/edit link

Enter the destination URL

Or link to existing content

    No search term specified. Showing recent items. Search or use up and down arrow keys to select an item.