From jewgle: Evolution and "survival of the fittest" are not the same thing. Evolution refers to the cumulative changes in a population or species through time. "Survival of the fittest" is a popular term that refers to the process of natural selection, a mechanism that drives evolutionary change.
Not quite the same but related.
survival of the fittest leads to evolution. Genetic changes leading to advantages in survival. Natural selection favors those new advantages, and over generations it becomes the standard. At that point, the species has evolved.
I went looking to refresh my knowledge after not having cracked open a bio book in some years, and think I found the article you were looking at. If you read further, it says,
“Survival of the fittest” refers to the process of natural selection, which drives evolutionary change.
Evolution has to do with species evolving to their environment thru natural selection. Certain genes that allow the strongest to survive, which allows them to procreate lead to having those genes passed on to the next generation. If this is the case, why are there hairless white people who can't survive extreme temps and burn in the sun? Why haven't we adapted to our environment to not need shelter or clothes? Why are people still born with really bad issues that ultimately lead to their death?
Because it takes longer than that. It's more along the line of black people evolved to have more melanin so they could survive in the bush. White people didn't need that, so they're white - they evolved in northern climates, and have more hair.
Why haven't we adapted to our environment to not need shelter or clothes?
Because we build shelters and make clothes. Those that would survive better without them have no evolutionary advantage at this point; those they would die have just as much chance of spawning offspring as those that would survive.
Why are people still born with really bad issues that ultimately lead to their death?
Similar to the shelter people, those that would croak from sickness have their lives prolonged due to medical advances, and get to pass their substandard genes on to the next generation
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