Evolutionary Theory and Its Relation to Human Behavior

Jan Joel C. Atanacio                                                           Term Paper

SA199.19                                                                   Evelyn Caballero

Introduction

Charles Darwin, one of the founders of modern evolutionary theory, has popularized the term ‘natural selection’ in his study of evolutionary processes. A basic definition of natural selection is that it is the process by which individuals with advantageous characteristics that can be used for reproduction leave more offspring in the next generation. This increases the proportion of their genes within the gene pool found in a specific environment over time. Natural selection is the principal mechanism of evolutionary change. It occurs in any reproducing population that is faced with a changing environment.^[1]

        What natural selection does is to give us a process by which “those who adapt survive” or that “in this world, it is survival of the fittest.” The process of natural selection as proposed by Charles Darwin provides an explanation on how individuals thrive and survive. The biological process involved in natural selection could also serve as a way in understanding organism interactions moreover, human interactions and behaviors. What this paper aims to accomplish is to provide a discussion on Charles Darwin’s idea of natural selection and later on relating and linking it to human behavior. This paper will tackle how the biological process of natural selection could serve as a way to understand culture and see it more than just a simple mechanism. It will also look at the application of natural selection on humans and see the strengths and weaknesses of thinking such.

Historical Development and Early Influences to Darwin

        Charles Darwin wanted to give a plausible mechanism by which life might evolve and to show evidences which favored the evolution of species from a common ancestor. Jean Baptiste Lamarck and others had promoted evolutionary theories; however they all depended on speculation. They claimed that evolution was guided by some long-term trend.

Until the early 19th century, the prevailing view in Western societies was that differences between individuals of a species were brought about by their idea of created kinds. “Created Kinds” being the idea in which kinds cannot interbreed and have no evolutionary relationship to one another.^[2] Then, there was also the prevailing theory of uniformitarianism in geology which promoted the idea that, simple forces could act continuously over long periods of time to produce radical changes in the Earth's landscape. With the success and rise of this theory, there was a budding awareness to the vast scale of geological time. This theory and thought made it possible to conceive the idea that unnoticeable changes in successive generations could produce consequences on the scale of differences between species.^[3]