Common misunderstandings about Darwin concerning origin of species, survival of the fittest and sexual ornaments. This text is not scientific in the sense of genetic research or the evolution of mankind in a very detailed thesis. The goal of this text is to take common misunderstandings and explain them in a way everybody should be able to understand. My intention is not to take EVERY misconception about Darwinism, but just to point out the ones that I have dealt with the most in the course of my studies. Again, this text is meant to be a simple review. I hope you’ll enjoy reading it. It’s not my intention to start a scientific or a Theo -philosophic (creationism) discussion. If you happen to have comments, I be happy to read them and give them a response.

I have chosen this subject because I take interest in it. I’m glad to see that there is a growing interest in Evolutionary Psychology, which uses theories based on Darwinism, in which (human) behavior is explained through looking at the evolution mankind has made. I find theories of three layered brains fascinating (MaClean), and the idea of a triune brain can explain a lot of man’s behavior.

In this text I have chosen to point out some of the most common misunderstandings in a brief and light way, so that most of you will understand the basics.

Survival of the fittest

Most people misuse this Darwinist Theory by saying that only the strongest can survive. This is due to the fact that they think “fittest” is derived from the word “fit” as in healthy and strong. It is a plausible theory, but when you think about it, a butterfly doesn’t seem so strong at all, and yet there are thousands of different types of butterflies all over the world. Do these delicate creatures have hidden superpowers? No. What they have is the other sense of the word “fittest”, derived from the VERB to fit, meaning “most adapted”. The range of colors allows the butterfly to be camouflaged for eventual predators. Stories about the “butterfly stare of death” are thus fictional.

Survival of the fittest… part II

So now you may think “good, adaptability means survival.”, which is correct. But there is one notion that needs further explanation. Not all mutations are protective mechanisms for the species against predators or environmental conditions. Take the peacock. The tail feathers of the males are beautiful, but they hinder the peacock , making him an easy target for predators. So why have they them? The answer is simple; to impress females. In order for a species to survive they need to procreate. Since the male with the biggest tail feathers has the biggest chance of impressing females and thus to breed, long tails have been an essential part of the survival of the peacock species. It’s in the females genes to pick the peacock with the biggest tail, and it’s the male genes that lead to such big tails. It is clear that a lot of species have similar “features to impress”. These features are called sexual ornaments. Even mankind has such ornaments, which I will explain in the next part.

Breasts are for feeding babies… right?

I’m afraid not. It’s obvious that the nurturing function of mammals lie within the female breasts. But no other species has “breasts” that are comparable to those of women. When we take a look at our nearest “cousins” (more about that further in this text), the apes, we can see that the “breasts” are only swollen during the nurturing process. Once the infant reaches the age on which it can feed on other food, the swelling decreases. Yet with (most) women, the breasts are constantly in a “swollen” state. That is because they are sexual ornaments: breasts have the function of arousing males up to the point they want to mate. In our current society, it’s considered rude to think of breasts as mere seductive tools, and they have lost some of their intentional meaning. But for most men, a large chest is still one of the primary things they find attractive in a woman. Why? It’s in our genes to think that way. Other sexual ornaments in the female physique are for example the lips (colored lips are to resemble the female sex), the hips (broad hips are a fertility indicator) and the legs (long legs are considered attractive). For men it’s broad shoulders, long arms, big muscles and strong features in the face ( like a large nose and excessive jaws). Do you have neither of those? These sexual ornaments are not the only way to impress . Remarkable talents also help. You probably know the attraction artists like Da Vinci and Picasso had, and the amounts of groupies rockstars have. Remarkable is that mostly women are impressed by such talents.

We evolved from apes

This is one of the largest misconceptions about Darwinism. But when you think about it a little further, you know this can’t make sense. The most common evolution theory states that mankind (homo sapiens sapiens) evolved from the Australopithecus, in a course of over two million years. The theory that mankind evolved from apes would state that the apes did not evolve at all in the course of those two million years. Yet it’s undeniable that we have a lot in common with apes, since we share about 99% of our genetic material with the bonobo. The reason for this is that we have the same “ancestor”: we evolved from the same pre-ape creature, as we do with all apes. The more genetic difference, the earlier in time there was a split in the evolutionary road of mankind and that species of ape. So, we did not evolve from monkeys, but we share an ancestor.

There are more misunderstandings than the ones I explain in this short text. Perhaps I will put those in a new text, if I can find the time and if this article gets some views. Feel free to leave comments or remarks. Thank you for reading.