The idea of Natural Selection is intriguing and, oddly, quite logical. It’s like a less ridiculous version of the TV Game Show Takeshi’s Castle. This show, in addition to being ludicrously funny, highlights some of the key concepts of this natural – if not completely accepted – phenomenon. Basically, you have a large group of contestants who have to overcome a series of challenges and finally defeat the boss to win. All the challenges have a significant amount of luck involved. In fact, some of them are all luck. However, players stand a better chance of getting through if they are fit, agile and have good co-ordination. One can imagine that those that make to the end would hold some valuable information that might increase the chances of success for future contestants. Well, that could be so if it wasn’t a crazy TV show.

Thinking about how organisms adapt and develop new characteristics to deal with their environment is just a little bit mind-bending, if you really get into it – and most people don’t. Basically, every life-form (including the homo-sapiens) is in a fight for survival. This stuff is hard-coded somewhere deep, like in DNA or something. The ultimate goal is the survival of the species. It means defeating disease, predators, as well as the environment. In order to do that, each species has to adapt – i.e. become better suited – to the conditions around them. Those who can’t, die. Simple. Each individual in the group plays her own role. Some cope better than others. Some get trampled on. Some just sort of get by. Some rise and become leaders. The process by which these individuals come to prominence (or obscurity, for that matter) is not necessarily fair. It might be that they luckily survive some viral attack, or they are of a larger size than their peers, or perhaps they are of a more aggressive disposition. In any case, these individuals survive. They can therefore pass on their genes to offspring who, with some luck, inherit their survival traits. This, in turn, is good for the group as a whole. This is my understanding of Natural Selection, in a nutshell.

There is competition for resources in all living systems. With our complete domination of the earth (unless you consider cockroaches…the little buggers will probably be here long after we’re gone), our current view of this is really concentrated on competition with each other. In the old days, Bo the caveman and his homies were too busy trying to survive to worry about holy wars. One can imagine that, after a somewhat lackluster childhood, Bo became special as a man because of his uncanny ability to bash-in Sabre-Toothed Tiger heads. Thus, nobody messed with him. He was important to the group. He could protect the shepherds while they foraged their sheep (or whatever they had back then). He was kept away from dangerous trips to the canyon to get water; the one where many fell to their deaths. He was well fed, so he could keep up his strength. Best of all, Bo got the best women, as ladies – even back then – love to rub shoulders with a celebrity. Plus, they all wanted to be his baby-mama. By the time he was killed at the ripe, old age of 34 (trampled to death by a woolly mammoth while napping in dangerous territory after a particularly tasty meal), he had serviced every female in the group, including the big chief’s missus. Even in death, Bo’s legacy lived on, as quite a few of the next generation were his.

That is “Survival of the fittest”, sort of. This example had more of a social framework perhaps, but it’s still the same principle in nature. That principle seems to be that systems feed more resources to those who are useful; those who are successful at surviving. The more value one provides, the more resources one is likely to get. Wasting supplies on failures or inefficient individuals is bad for the group. Best let them fade away while fellas like Bo get more. Fellas like Bo are survivors. Fellas like Bo contribute more to ensure the group stays around longer. So, in general, the group redirects resources from the less useful to the more useful, where necessary. This whole process has a kind of brutal justice to it. It’s cruel for the Individual but powerful for the survival of the group/species/organism.

Another really good example comes from the immune system of the human body. This is another topic that is really fascinating to learn about. You couldn’t find more drama in day-time soap operas. I won’t get into it here, but we’ll say that there are a variety of Cells along with Antibodies that are involved in protecting you from invader micro-organisms that would do you harm. The group we are most interested in here are B-Cells; one of those that float around waiting to be alerted to the presence of these invaders so they can attack them. When this type of cell is alerted, and subsequently “activated” (like a dog set on a target by giving it a scent to follow, for instance), it starts to reproduce by cell division. All these kid-cells descend on the poor unsuspecting visitors and attempt to destroy them. Now, those that are strongest and most successful, for whatever reason, continually get fed resources to keep going. Those that are weaker are out-competed and die. This is related to a process called Apoptosis. Apoptosis also ensures that cells that are infected automatically send out a signal that marks them for death, whether they want to or not. These cells are wiped out by their own brothers before they can spread infection further (Some invaders have found ways to stop this signal from going out, causing infections to spread and wreak havoc on the human, as the killer cells have no way of telling that these cells are “hot”). Also, cells that are unable to carry out their functions properly for whatever reason are not spared either. Either the “environment” notices and stops supplying resources to the cell, or the cell basically kills itself, by a form of poisoning, for instance. In any case, the body does not waste further food supplies on weak links.

I have simplified the above process quite a bit, but it’s the best I could do without boring you to death. The point is that nature, both internally and externally, favors success. Being successful, in nature anyway, generally leads to more success. Failing, on the other hand, means a tendency towards the bottom of the pile…death. There is an experiment which was done some time ago where they put a group of rats in a cage and periodically subjected them to electric shocks – it goes without saying that being a rat must really suck. They also put a button in the cage that, when pushed, would stop the shocks for all the rats, for that particular wave. Basically, early on, some rats found the button while the others didn’t. Those that did immediately went for it whenever the shocks started, and were able to temporarily provide relief for the entire group. Those that didn’t have that option took the shocks, one can imagine, helplessly. The longer-term results were interesting. The helpless rats had very high levels of stress, understandably. Their immune systems suffered. Their reflexes suffered. They didn’t even have the ability to attempt escape when ample opportunity was given to them. They were completely resigned to their fate. The other ones, in contrast, where considerably better off. Even though they received just as much in the way of shocks as the others, the fact that they had the succeeded in doing something about it had great effects on them. They stayed sharp. They lived longer. They also attempted escape when given the chance. Their bodies (psychology, hormones etc) provided positive feedback in response to success and equipped them for more of it. As for the others…well, their nature turned on them. This experiment was tried on other animals with similar results.

Humans now live in much more complex systems and groups. Being “Successful” in any of the groups isn’t just about staying alive anymore. Failing to succeed also doesn’t mean death. That said, similar rules still apply. Take for instance, a simple example of an attempt at success in the “Corporate World”. You start, hypothetically, at university where you have to take a particular course. If you pass, you are welcomed in. You have proven success. Those who can’t make it (for whatever reason…laziness, illness, poverty, stupidity) are chucked out. As you move forward, the system continually rewards you for more success. There are more connections, more partnerships in this space; relationships that will keep the good stuff coming for years, giving you the tools to make your ability to succeed even greater. Internally, your confidence soars with each new victory, ensuring that you have the stamina to keep going. So, even if you have one or two set-backs, you still have enough juice to keep you churning for a while. If you fail, however, you can become an outcast from this class. Making it becomes harder. The system rejects you. Psychologically, repeated failure could take its toll on your confidence. Even when you try, people around may see your lack of conviction in your eyes, in your demeanor, in your body language. They aren’t likely to give you the time of day. Thus, you could sink further. You could end up screwed, both by the environment, and by yourself. Death might not be the consequence, but exit from the system, this situation still is.

This is the world we live in. It is, in a way, as nature intended. There are many things that can separate success from the failure in our systems…geographical location, ancestry, looks, innate intelligence or lack thereof etc. Some people seem to have more traits that allow them to excel, in addition to having the social background that mean that the odds may be heavily skewed in their favor. The good thing about evolution is that Man now has much more power to reject the status quo, if he chooses to. He can consciously try to improve himself and perhaps get to places that were previously out of his reach. He can analyze, learn, plan and work his way to his chosen goal, in spite of the environment he is in. He can nuture the more subtle parts of his nature to find fulfillment that isn’t tied to an external goal.

Heck, he can even abandon the system altogether and go off on his own path.


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