Natural Selction

Applying this theory to the problems concerning natural selection we can see how this helps. The underlying motivation behind not killing a person and dying for the sake of loved ones is in fact fitness maximization. This is the distal explanation behind the two. The proximal mechanisms employed to attain this effect is the feeling of guilt and shame one endures for taking a life and the emotion of love, nobility and sacrifice one feels while risking their life for the sake of a loved one. Society has constructed these sentiments as mechanisms or guides to actually express the latent desire for fitness maximization.

Let us even go a step beyond these cases. What about men who are impotent or women that are barren? What is the motivation behind the actions of people who are not capable of successfully producing offspring? There is no possibility of them ever maximizing their fitness, because they are not able to pass their genes on to the next generation. What explanation can be given to explain the motives behind their behaviour if it obviously cannot possibly be fitness maximization? To take this idea even a step beyond, it would seem that the theory of fitness maximization has a very strict timeframe placed on it. Most women are known to go through menopause some time during their forties or fifties, once menopause is achieved it is virtually impossible to conceive children afterwards. According to natural selection these women would be motivated by fitness maximization up to the point that they are still able to produce offspring, but once they cross the line and are not capable of having children anymore there must be a new desire that motivates their actions. What motivates the behaviours of humans after they lose the ability to produce children? The ability to produce viable offspring does not last the entire length of a human life. If a person fails to actually produce offspring and then loses their ability to actually produce children, what then compels their actions and behaviours after the opportunity of fitness maximization has actually passed. The cases of altruistic self-sacrifice for non-relatives, rape of women while employing a condom and individuals incapable of producing offspring seems to refute the idea that fitness maximization is the underlying motive behind all of society’s actions and behaviours.

The problem one encounters is that there are a select group of philanthropic selfless individuals out there who do place the benefits and interests of complete strangers or non-family members before even the benefit of themselves. It would be impossible for this idea of fitness maximization, which springs from the theory of natural selection to be universally true then. It is true that an overwhelming majority of this world is selfish and would place the well being of themself and their family way before the welfare of others, but it is not true for all the people of the world. If the idea of fitness maximization were in fact correct, then we would find ourselves living in an incredibly self-centred world. Where all of humanities actions only take into account the ultimate well being of their own bodies along with the members of their own gene pool. People would like to believe that the world is not that egocentric, but fitness maximization would have to be disproved if other people’s welfare were to be taken into account in the actions and motives of the rest of humanity.

Some topics in this essay:
Natural Selection, Trade Centres, fitness maximization, natural selection, York City, produce offspring, proximal mechanisms, genes generation, theory fitness maximization, theory fitness, distal explanation, life sister, complete strangers, viable offspring, idea fitness maximization, save life sister, hopefully produce offspring, live hopefully produce,