Thomas Huxley Quotes
The struggle for existence holds as much in the intellectual as in the physical world. A theory is a species of thinking, and its right to exist is coextensive with its power of resisting extinction by its rivals.
Huxley, Thomas Henry. "The Coming of Age of 'The Origin of Species'." Science and Culture, and Other Essays, Macmillan and Co., 1881, p. 312.
This is the first use of the famous phrase—“survival of the fittest.” Spencer thought of it as a synonym for Darwin’s “natural selection”, but modern scientists do not use the phrase because it is circular reasoning. It is the fittest who survive it implies when whichever species survives is obviously fittest for that time and place. It is also misinterpreted as a predation scale war which it is not. The lion is much stronger than the antelopes and feeds on them, but the lions are dying out while the antelopes are thriving and developing. The fittest may be so because the species is a faster and more reliable breeder. Most people with a limited knowledge of evolution and scince associate the fittest with the top predator. However, over time, most top predators have NOT survived as well as many other species which in a predation fight are weak, but are more can handle a wider climate range, can change rapidly in response to natural disaters, can breed efficiently, are resistant to diseases, require less food, and literally thousands of other factors.
Even today many people find Darwin’s views wanting because of the struggle and survival of the fittest concept implying that all creatures physically battle for survival and existance. But as this quotation illustrated, this was and is a very narrow view of Darwin’s concept of the struggle. Creatures fighting with each other is only a small part of this struggle. Larger parts are adapting to changed climate, versatility in food selection and extremely important a successful breeding pattern. The Thompson’s Gazelle is the most eaten animal on the African plains, and has virtually no defenses, but is an amazing breeder, with the shortest period of gestation of any mammal and the number of pregnancies per year. This little antelopes are thriving while they are eaten by most predators while the Lion, the strongest predator whom no animal will threaten, is becoming extinct.
Thomas Henry Huxley PC FRS HonFRSE FLS was an English biologist and anthropologist specialising in comparative anatomy. He is known as "Darwin's Bulldog" for his advocacy of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution.
