The Survival of the Most Intelligent

Abstract

Before we attempt to apply the idea of an evolutionary“struggle for existence” (cf. Darwin 1859, title of chapter 3) to the development of intelligence in Homo sapiens, we should stop thinking of it as being any kind of physical struggle since the matter is a far more subtle and, above all, more imperceptible affair than one would normally suppose. It should be emphasized that the metaphor of there being a real physical struggle, in many respects, is even confusing. The most common mistake is to confuse the mechanism of evolution with one of its special results. Aggressive behavior occurs in almost all animal species in intraspecific competition and has obvious evolutionarily adaptive functions for solving certain problems for individuals, e.g., acquiring territory, defense, choosing mates, defense against predators, etc. In plants and fungi, in contrast, aggressive bodily conflicts of the kind animals partake in do not make any sense since most plants cannot move from the spot and driving away their opponents by behavioral strategies such as threatening gestures, blows, and bites. However, even for peaceful beings like plants, the Darwinian metaphor of the struggle for survival still applies since this, when correctly interpreted and not understood word for word, simply states that evolution takes place by the variously successful reproduction of genetically different individuals. In this, it does not matter at all how the difference in reproductive rate comes about. This means it does not matter if it is achieved with or without aggression, by sexual or asexual reproduction, as a utilizer of sunlight or as a predator, whether cooperatively or solitarily, the only decisive factor is an actual difference in the final reproductive success and the latter is often brought about, since habitats and resources are always characterized by spatial and material limitations, by the minutest changes in the structure of the organism concerned (see: “On the manifold origins of species”, Science273:1496–1502).

The lower animals must have their bodily structure modified in order to survive under greatly changed conditions.… The case, however, is widely different, as Mr. Wallace has with justice insisted, in relation to the intellectual and moral faculties of man. These faculties are variable; and we have every reason to believe that the variations tend to be inherited. Therefore, if they were formerly of high importance to primeval man and to his ape-like progenitors, they would have been perfected or advanced through natural selection. Of the high importance of the intellectual faculties there can be no doubt, for man mainly owes to them his predominant position in the world. We can see, that in the rudest state of society, the individuals who were the most sagacious, who invented and used the best weapons or traps, and who were best able to defend themselves, would rear the greatest number of offspring. The tribes, which included the largest number of men thus endowed, would increase in number and supplant other tribes.… It is, therefore, highly probable that with mankind the intellectual faculties have been mainly and gradually perfected through natural selection;

Charles Darwin