Where does the phrase "survival of the fittest" come from?

Question

Let's see who knows...

Answer 1

It refers to animals in the jungle, meaning that they eat each other and the fittest or fastest survive.

Answer 2

It comes from Charles Darwin's book "The Origin of Species". What it means basically is that in any group of living creatures the biggest, fittest and strongest of the group will be more likely to survive adverse conditions than the smallest or weakest. This covers both plants and animals as well as humans.

Answer 3

I always thought that this was from Charles Darwin.When he wrote 'The Origin of Species' he was trying to explain how and why evolution had taken place. In this case, 'fittest' does not always mean the one with the most muscles, the fastest etc (though it can mean this) It means that the animal in the group with the physical characteristics most suited to living in their environment, would have more chance of surviving and passing on their genes to the next generation, so those characteristics which made them 'fit' for their environment would be passed on. eg. Giraffes have long necks and so they feed from the tops of trees that other animals cannot reach, so there is always food available as there is no competition for it from other species. Earlier giraffes might not have had such long necks, but the ones with the longest would get more food and therefore be healthier and probably produce more offspring with the 'longer neck' gene. Therefore there wuld be more giraffes with longer necks and the shorter necked families would eventually die out. Nature continues in this way to enable species to 'self select' their best specimens for the environment in which they live. In this case, fittest mean the most fit (suited) to their environmet and living conditions, not necessarily the ones with the healthiest bodies.

Answer 4

a very very quick summary of darwins theory of evolution. the fittest survive to reproduce passing on the caracteristics that made them the fittest. the weakest of the litter die so only the fittest survive to keep on reproducing. thus a species keeps improving.

Answer 5

Survival of the fittest is a phrase which is a shorthand for a concept relating to competition for survival or predominance. Originally applied by Herbert Spencer in his Principles of Biology of 1864, Spencer drew parallels to his ideas of economics with Charles Darwin's theories of evolution by what Darwin termed natural selection.

The phrase is a metaphor, not a scientific description; and it is not generally used by biologists, who almost exclusively prefer to use the phrase "natural selection".

Origins of the phrase


History of the phrase
While the British economist Herbert Spencer is often credited with introducing the phrase "survival of the fittest" in his 1851 work Social Statics (relating to free market economics) or his First Principles of a New system of Philosophy of 1862, he actually did not use the phrase until after reading Darwin's Origin of Species. and introduced it in his Principles of Biology of 1864, vol. 1, p. 444, writing "This survival of the fittest, which I have here sought to express in mechanical terms, is that which Mr. Darwin has called 'natural selection', or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life."

In The Man Versus The State of 1884 Spencer used this phrase to reinforce his social theories, writing "Thus by survival of the fittest, the militant type of society becomes characterized by profound confidence in the governing power, joined with a loyalty causing submission to it in all matters whatever." Companies which offer better goods and services survive better in the marketplace and tend to accumulate an ever-growing market share. Poorly-adapting companies will be forced out by better-adapting ones: "killed" by the competition.

In the first four editions of The Origin of Species, Charles Darwin used the phrase "natural selection" [1] and preferred that phrase. However, Spencer's Principles of Biology drew parallels between his economic theories and Darwin's biological ones and made first use in print of the phrase "survival of the fittest". Darwin agreed with Alfred Russel Wallace that this phrase avoided the troublesome anthropomorphism of "selecting", though it "lost the analogy between nature's selection and the fanciers'." It was used by Darwin in the 5th edition of The Origin published on 10 February 1869, in a secondary header of Chapter 4 about natural selection [2] and at several places in the text, mostly using the phrase "Natural Selection, or the Survival of the Fittest". He gave full credit to Spencer, writing "I have called this principle, by which each slight variation, if useful, is preserved, by the term natural selection, in order to mark its relation to man's power of selection. But the expression often used by Mr. Herbert Spencer, of the Survival of the Fittest, is more accurate, and is sometimes equally convenient." At this time the word "fittest" would have primarily meant "most suitable" or "most appropriate" rather than "in the best physical shape".

In modern times, however, the phrase is widely used in popular literature as a catchphrase for any topic related or analogous to evolution and natural selection. It has thus been applied to principles of unrestrained competition, and it has been used extensively by both proponents and opponents of Social Darwinism. Its shortcomings as a description of Darwinian evolution have also become more apparent (see below).

Evolutionary biologists criticize how the term is used by non-scientists and the connotations that have grown around the term in popular culture. The phrase also does not help in conveying the complex nature of natural selection and modern biologists prefer and almost exclusively use the term natural selection. Indeed, in modern biology, the term fitness measures reproductive success and is not explicit about the specific ways in which organisms can be "fit" as in "having phenotypic characteristics which enhance survival and reproduction" (which was the meaning that Spencer had in mind).

Answer 6

Coined by Herbert Spencer 1820-1903 (a self-taught naturalist) in his book "Principles of Biology"

Answer 7

IDK abt the poultry/egg, yet ofcourse Survival, whats the element abt reproducing, if your bringing a sparkling era into unsurvival mode. isn't the area of replica that your inhabitants gets greater suitable and survives for an prolonged time. this is be greater advantageous to discover techniques of surviving and then bypass that wisdom to greater present day gen, while this is risk-free to replica. I propose whats the area of replica identity the greater present day inhabitants won't be able to survive would not that negate the finished purpose of why we reproduce, honestly to not get extinct.

Answer 8

It was originally applied by Bernard Spencer in his 'principles of biology' 1864

Answer 9

from Herbert Spencer in regards to Darwin's theory of evolution

Answer 10

Clue: it wasn't Charles Darwin.