None Hitwonder2d ago
When people talk about "survival of the fittest" or "the crime of empathy," I want clips like this to be pressed into the sides of those people's self-serving dumbfuck heads until they cave in.
Show threadUSS Joshua Norton, NCC-74819-B2d ago

@nonehitwonder This is literally survival of the fittest in action though. It's never about the individual, it's always about the group. The group that teaches the best habits benefit just as much as the group that perpetuates a beneficial mutation.

Compassion *is* a trait that benefits a population, otherwise we never would have developed it enough for it to survive generations. And we wouldn't see it in animal populations like this.

Show threadcy
Survival of the fittest was coined by Herbert Spencer, an enthusiastic supremist and eugenicist. Darwin never spoke in those terms, calling it "Natural Selection." The reason it's bullshit is "fittest" is a misleading term. Natural selection is survival of the barely good enough. Anything better, Ma Nature no care she lazy!

And who cares if we're better or worse at surviving? That's how they get you to stop people from surviving, for the crime of not surviving. If they won't survive, you don't have to help step on them. But if you do that, the ultra-wealthy will benefit greatly from your self-destructive obedience to their lies.

Like, would you only show compassion because it benefits a population? No, you show it because you're not a fucking asshole, and you like people! Maybe it benefits the population, but that'll work itself out, doesn't need our attention.

CC: @nonehitwonder@tenforward.social
Jun 16 at 8:33amWeb
Show threadJB 🐎 1d ago

@cy @USSJoshuaNorton @nonehitwonder

Yes, Darwin even used the phrase himself.

This is a comprehensive resource to learn more about the history:

https://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/accumulating-glitches/the_meaning_of_fitness/

TLDR; The term has been vastly misinterpreted to mean something other than what it meant in biology, where it originated. “Fitness” refers to passing on genetics or phenotypes to the next generation, and doesn’t even need to involve someone having children of their own. There are many diverse examples in nature where family support each other, and other cooperative relationships, even between species, that are crucial to the next generation’s survival.

It is absolutely about “good enough”, and that does not have one, single definition.

The Meaning of Fitness | Accumulating Glitches | Learn Science at Scitable

Fitness is a central concept of evolution and one of the most commonly misunderstood. What does it actually mean, and what are the misunderstandings?