from an evolutionary standpoint...?

Question

in every species struggle for survival what would you say are the benefits of the following:
1. rape
2. murder
3. incest
4. cruelty to animals
5. theft
6. believing or not in a god

i would say none of these benefit survival.

i believe those who cite rape as beneficial are overlooking the obvious. those who have to rape are raping because they were not chosen by natural selection. hence, they are likely spreading some trait that is considered undesirable for the survival of the species. perhaps even a virus.

Answer 1

1. rape:
None

2. murder:
None

3. incest:
None

4. cruelty to animals:
None

5. theft:
It can be useful if you steal from an outgroup, but in our society, none.

6. believing or not in a god:
Absolutely none

Not every trait needs to have an evolutionary advantage, that's a common misconception about evolution.

Answer 2

1. There is an evolutionary case for rape, in that it does spread genes from one tribe/group to another and in simply spreading the genes of the rapist around. Rape is present in various animal species, and is common in social animals especially when the society is overpopulated. Note: I'm not justifying the action, just stating why it have had a purpose.

2. Murder is debatable as it depends on what you classify as murder. However, killing competing members of your species is an effective way of helping you and yours to survive. Many species of animals will kill others of their own kind.

3. Incest can be a survival technique in small groups and doesn't always result in problems with the children. Many animal species practice incest.

4. Cruelty serves no purpose and is basically a concept, except it could be seen as a form of honing hunting skills. Animals and plants are very cruel, often consuming their prey while still alive.

5. Theft, if you have food and I take it, I now have more nourishment and you have less, therefore my genes have a better chance of survival. Theft is rampant among other animals.

6. Look up the "god gene". This actually is a set of three genes that appear to affect the propensity to believe. There are some survival characteristics associated with them.

It should be understood that not all traits are beneficial in all situations or environments, that is a trait that helps a species in one environment may contribute to its failure in another. Also traits are often linked to another, so one may help survival while the other has no effect, this means both traits would be passed along.

Answer 3

Well, on first blush, and for all organisms:
1. rape might cause pregnancy and therefore pass on your genes.
2. murder allows you to get rid of rivals and acheive a goal, possibly indirectly improving your chances of passing on genes.
3. incest is just a bad idea, evolutionarily, because inbreeding causes detrimental effects to arise from recessive traits.
4. cruelty to (other) animals requires a conscience to realise the concept of "cruelty". Only humans have this.
5. theft, is like murder in that it allows acheivement of an objective, improvement of status, and possible reproductive success.
6. belief (or otherwise) in a God is also unique to humans.

However:
In the case of humans, many of these are rightly heinous crimes, punishable by death in many places, and by prolonged or permanent imprisonment in others. Neither of these consequences are likely to improve your chances for reproduction, and so the acts are evolutionarily detrimental.
Note also that the moral structure dictating that these actions are "wrong" is not intrinsically Christian. Non-christian societies have similar laws and rules of behaviour.

With non-human animals, then rape, murder, cruelty to (other) animals and theft are all exceptionally commonplace. It is the unique brain, and social conscience of humanity that allows it to rise above these actions.
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Edit:
in response to : "those who have to rape are raping because they were not chosen by natural selection. hence, they are likely spreading some trait that is considered undesirable for the survival of the species. "
From an evolutionary standpoint, this is just not true.
The organisms that "rape" (which is really a uniquely human idea, btw) are just passing on their genes, the same as organisms that were chosen.
"Rape"-like behaviour is common in ducks and geese, and in dolphins. The ability to successfully mate with an unwilling female demonstrates that the male is capable of doing so. Therefore his genes will be passed on, the the ability (and propensity) for rape will exist in their offspring.
Read " A Natural History of Rape: Biological Bases of Sexual Coercion" by Randy Thornhill and Craig Palmer

Answer 4

Here's a few guesses:

1. you can seed your genetics around, whoever has the most decendants has a better chance of winning the evolution race.

2. you deprive your rivals of their decendants.

3. uh. No idea on this one.

4. Also no idea on this one.

5. You increase your own resources, depriving your rivals of theirs.

6. Belief (or not) in a god requires cognitive thought, which also gives a creature the ability to alter its environment to suit its needs, removing one of the chief driving forces of evolution. In other words, cognitive thought allowed us to spread to all continents and we are the first species to evolve which can potentially avoid extinction by asteroid. Belief (or not) in a god is a byproduct of cognitive thought.

Answer 5

not all actions of individuals are necessarily beneficial. Evolution is about generations and large populations.

Answer 6

None of them matter in the long run. Those things don't affect the evolution of living organisms.

Answer 7

Darwin had it right.