Discuss some of the key ideas, people, and consequences associated with theories of evolution (focusing on Darwin).I. Intro and Background
Darwin started researching on the evolution of animals and plants and was motivated by the fact that other creatures were able to survive while others could not. For this reason, competition for various elements that are specific to the growth and expansion of the population are the basis for evolution. This article will therefore try and establish the facts behind Darwin’s findings.
Malthus and competition
Malthus fronts the fact that, in every system that contains living organism, evolution in any sense will be driven by competition for one or two things. Competition will come in the form of contest for food a niche, mates and or even dominance. For instance, if the human population is growing at rates that are higher than the rates at which food is produced, there will be competition for the same. Just like human beings, animals have the same tendency to reproduce at levels that exert more pressure on the available resources and habitat. The competition driven evolution is such that, creatures evolve different traits that enable them to acquire more resources to sustain themselves. Competition is thus responsible for some features in the living world; why there are so many different species and the reason why closely related species could differ in ecologically related traits.
The coming of atheism and philosophical materialism
In relation to the Darwin’s theory of evolution, the coming of atheism is motivated just by the same factors that drive evolution. For instance, a few people living amongst a group of many will at some point want to exercise some dominance of the sort and in that regard, materialism will develop slowly. An employer will employ people and pay too little wages for too much work done. This materialistic philosophy results in an imbalance of nature within the living environment.
II. Lamarck
According to Lamarckian theory, some of the traits that are influential I evolution can be acquired and later passed down the generation. Environmental changes for instance will influence an animal’s way of responding to ensure survival. The contribution of these induced traits should be recognized for the influence they have on the survival of the whole generation and its subsequent evolution. Lamarck tries to explain that, as the system becomes complex, it becomes apparent that new skills and traits will be necessary to survive and for the animals influenced, they will develop them in order to see the next generation of animals. III. DarwinNatural Selection
According to Darwin, the competition for resources will favor species that have certain traits over those who do not have and in the end the whole generation will have been shaped in a certain direction. These traits could be body size, color facial markings and many more. Similarly, some traits are passed from one generation to the other and are inherited for that matter while another combination of traits are influenced by the environment and for that reason may not be passed down the generation. Differential survival is yet another explanation for natural selection in that, a generation that has the ability to utilize natural resources will survive and have more population than the others.
Sexual Selection
Darwin’s theory of sexual selection is based on the fact that, the main determinants in sexual selection is either combat or display. Under combat, members of the same sex will compete for a particular member of the opposite sex. For example, elephant seals are known to migrate seasonally from their grazing grounds to breeding grounds and to them males do it a fortnight early before female elephant seals migrate. This will enable them to fight for the good breeding grounds after which they will attract the most females. In the display phenomena, females are depended by males to exhibit some predisposing features to the males of their choice. For instance, a male with an expensive jewelry is taken to be indicative of his vitality. This will influence the female to want to associate with that kind of male with the intent of wanting her offspring to inherit the nature of that male.
Group Selection
Darwin’s group selection theory states that the forces that act on competing individuals can also act on competing groups of individuals. Individual in the same group have competition among themselves and for those who are not fit, they are bound to suffer. The most outstanding trait with group selection is the fact that a member that is not suffering from any negative effects of altruism will eventually dominate the other members who are weak in the group. The group selection theory however, contradicts the other theories in aspects like inheritance of the genes. Sometimes, when competition is not yet too much for the system to sustain, a group will still sustain itself against other competitors and when it is critical, a group will be competing against itself.
IV. ConsequencesHolocaust
Social Darwinism is one of the consequences of Darwin’s piece of work. Holocaust is a branch out that borrowed from Darwin, the ideology that evolution happened due to elimination of the weak in the struggle for survival. Most of the civil wars wedged by the Nazi and Hitler had an inspiration in Darwin’s theory of survival for the fittest. The acceptance of the social Darwinism by the community and the society resulted in the culmination of human life in magnitudes of up to 9 million in the concentration camps and even 40 million others perished in war that was financed with 40 trillion dollars. The importance of race in explaining Darwinian perspective of evolution is in the fact that, a particular race will advance the agendas of that race and diminish those of the other. This is what happened with the holocaust in that Hitler began to dominate and manipulate the natural course of how thing happen.
Eugenics
The social Darwinism problem of Eugenics was introduced in 1883 by Darwin’s cousin Galton; his interest in science drove him to try and describe selective breeding in human beings as a way of ensuring that he human race was fit. Spencer another researcher too came along with an inclined notion which insisted on competition between social classes. Due to this nature of social Darwinism, filth and any disease would then be associated with immorality and for that reason discrimination grew along social class lines. This notion of social morality lasted through the 19th century although there was no basis for all the eugenics that had taken over control of social relationship. Most of the supporters of eugenics believed that selecting people who were intelligent and siring children with them would strengthen the human race. In fact, in the early 1900, researcher could not prove that selective breeding was going to save the society from transmittable diseases and any other trait sought to be avoided.
According to Freud, medical vs. popular view of dream interpretation refers to professional handling of patients versus using the traditional methods, respectively. The id is what we are born with while the ego is developed while we interact with the environment. The superego develops when we want to perform something, and it tries to counteract what the ego does. The unconscious is important because it helps us make proper decisions. Oedipus complex are the emotions and ideas, which the subconscious mind holds. Psychoanalytical therapy refers to the exercise of treating the mind into understanding a phenomenon. A pathological idea is a well thought-of aspect while manifest content is the real value that dreams hold. The latent content is the outside meaning of dreams while the wishful fulfilment is what we would have liked our dreams to mean. Association is the relationship between the wishful and latent content while repression is the attempt by an individual to drive away his or her impulses and desires.
NOTES
1. Crook, David Paul. 1994. Darwinism, war, and history: the debate over the biology of war from the Origin of species to the First World War. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
2. Spielvogel, Jackson J. 2011. Western Civilization Since 1300. Wadsworth Pub Co.
