Reproduction is the Most Important Evolutionary Trait

Those strains that reproduce persist; those that do not reproduce die out. The ability to reproduce is what makes living things different from rocks. Besides, there is nothing inconsistent with free will or even chastity in this view of life. Human beings, I believe, thrive according to their ability to take initiatives and exercise individual talent. But free will was not created for fun; there was a reason that evolution handed our ancestors the ability to take initiatives, and the reason was that free will and initiative are means to satisfy ambition, to compete with fellow human beings, to deal with life's emergencies, and so eventually to be in a better position to reproduce and rear children than human beings who do not reproduce. Therefore, free will itself is any good only to the extent that it contributes to eventual reproduction.

Look at it another way: If a student is brilliant but terrible in examinations—if, say, she simply collapses with nervousness at the very thought of an exam—then her k brilliance will count for nothing m a course that is tested by a single examination at the end of the term. Likewise, if an animal is brilliant at survival, has an efficient metabolism, resists all diseases, learns faster than its competitors, and lives to a ripe old age, but is infertile, then its superior genes are simply not available to its descendants. Everything can be inherited except sterility. None of your direct ancestors died childless.

Notes:

"Everything can be inherited except sterility."

Folksonomies: evolution sex reproduction

Taxonomies:
/health and fitness/disease/cold and flu (0.499319)
/health and fitness/disorders (0.498145)
/law, govt and politics (0.382340)

Keywords:
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Entities:
examinations—if:City (0.677991 (negative:-0.383904))

Concepts:
Life (0.971084): dbpedia | freebase
Human (0.787593): dbpedia | freebase | opencyc
Reproduction (0.600078): dbpedia | freebase
Organism (0.591432): dbpedia | freebase
Evolution (0.589197): dbpedia | freebase | opencyc
Philosophy of life (0.577272): dbpedia | freebase
Psychology (0.571643): dbpedia | freebase | opencyc
Meaning of life (0.538333): dbpedia | freebase | yago

 The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature
Books, Brochures, and Chapters>Book:  Ridley , Matt (2003-05-01), The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature, Harper Perennial, Retrieved on 2011-05-03
Folksonomies: evolution culture sex evolutionary psychology


Schemas

04 SEP 2011

 Why Evolution is True

Memes that support the Theory of Evolution
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