Why would any plant or animal want to reproduce more of its kind since this would only make more mouths to feed and decrease the chances of survival? (Does the individual have a drive to survive, or the species? How do you explain this?). This question is from wayofthemaster.com.
2006-06-06 07:24:17 · 5 answers · asked by fishinforsouls 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Biology
If you understood anything at all about the theory of evolution you mock, you would understand that survival of an individual is not the issue ... it is survival of *genes* ... which can only happen through offspring. So genes that produce, in an individual (1) a drive to survive; *and* (2) a drive to reproduce ... tend to get propagated a lot. (I.e. #1 without #2 doesn't last very long.) *That's* how evolution explains both the individual's 'drive to survive' and the 'drive to reproduce' ... they are both equally important.
Is that really that hard to understand?
If you can understand that much, then maybe you'd realize that Kirk Cameron and the DVDs sold on 'wayofthemaster.com' may not be the best sources for understanding about biology.
There's nothing wrong with criticizing science ... but you should understand it a little bit first ... at least the *basics* ... otherwise you don't sound clever and persuasive, you just sound like you don't understand the theory you are criticizing ... i.e. you sound uneducated and a bit foolish. And as such, you are unlikely to be effective as a witness for Christ.
2006-06-06 09:27:00 · answer #1 · answered by secretsauce 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Because the parent organisms can die, not just from lack of resources, but by becoming a resource for some other organism. The organism is preserving itself by making almost perfectly identical copies if it's reproducing asexually or in somewhat scattered and diluted forms through sexual reproduction. Does the individual have a drive to survive? Depends on whether or not it has capacity for thought, something that can't think just does what it does, it isn't capable of having a motive. I don't know of any species outside of bad sci-fi that have a total communal consciousness, which would be required for a species to have a single motive. "How do you explain this?" Your queries are based an a pitiful ignorance and prejudice. The would be bonn mots in parenthesis are teleological errors masquerading as profundities.
2006-06-06 09:53:27 · answer #2 · answered by corvis_9 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Survival of the species is guaranteed by reproduction.
Individual organisms don't evolve. Populations evolve. Because individuals in a population vary, some in the population are better able to survive and reproduce given a particular set of environmental conditions. These individuals generally survive and produce more offspring, thus passing their advantageous traits on to the next generation. Over time, the population changes.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/faq/cat01.html
Here's another interesting site:
http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/home.php
2006-06-06 07:39:08 · answer #3 · answered by Christy 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Individuals are selfish. They care only for themselves and their own offspring, not the species.
2006-06-06 07:44:00 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Actually, it's purely a matter of SEX. If sex didn't feel good, NO ONE would have kids cause they're too much a pain and labor SUCKS. That's why sex feels good = evolution.
2006-06-06 07:27:19 · answer #5 · answered by cyanne2ak 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋