Week III · 13 plates
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Survival of the Fittest

Selection, the struggle — and Darwin's blind spot

The big idea

Darwin gave scientific evidence for natural selection based strictly on genetic self-interest. Fitness is not strength or virtue; it is the reproductive edge a trait confers in a specific environment. And as Frank Ryan argues, cooperation is one of the most powerful of those traits.

By the end of this week you can
  • Define variation, heredity, and differential reproductive success.
  • Correct the common misreading of 'survival of the fittest'.
  • Explain what 'environment' means when the players are institutions.
Lecture hall · Week III

Survival of the Fittest

Plate 01 · leading message · use ← → keys

Plate 01
1859

Darwin led the evolutionary science revolution.

On the Origin of Species supplied evidence, not speculation: traits vary, variation is inherited, and the environment decides which variants leave more descendants.

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Slides
Reading notes · Week III

What you took from the pages

Write your own notes once you have finished On the Origin of Species / Darwin's Blind Spot, then revisit them before class. Notes are private to your account and never seen by anyone else.