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The key to defining evolution is the use of the word fittest. The simple darwinian misquote "survival of the fittest" is tautologous. In the case of nature, selection occurs towards traits which help an animal survive, so fittest in this sense means most likely to survive. "Survival of those most likely to survive" is hardly an astounding thesis, and so I would like to emphasise that when defining the evolution of a system, it is very important to define what the purpose of the sytem is, and therefore what it means to be fit.
Author: Kevin Gilbert (kgilbert[at]bcc.ctc.edu)
Date: Sep 13, 2000REPLY:
I would just like to add that in defining fitness,
the ability to survive isn't necessarily dependent
on functionality. To use an example, Microsoft
software is more likely to survive based on the
skills of their marketing and business departments
and not necessarily on the superiority of the software
itself. There may be better functioning systems,
but the one that survives does so by connecting itself
to elements outside of that system. Judging solely
within the confines of the system, the fittest may not
survive.
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