"The fittest organisms survive" (Claim #E736)
"fittest: those best suited for survival 1"
Response
This statement is true by definition: survivors always survive. 2 3 This is an example of a tautology: it is trivially true and doesn’t say anything useful.
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Sources
Cotner, S., & Moore, R. (2011). Arguing for Evolution: An Encyclopedia for Understanding Science. Santa Barbara, Calif.: Greenwood.
ReMine, W. J. (1993). The Biotic Message: Evolution Versus Message Theory. Saint Paul, Minn.: St. Paul Science.
Notes
- Cotner and Moore, 2011, p. 3: “Any feature that confers a benefit on an individual in its present environment is considered adaptive, and is referred to as an adaption. On average, individuals with this feature are more likely to survive and reproduce than are unaffected members of the population.” ↩
- ReMine, 1993, p. 98: “Natural selection is often formulated as a tautology. Natural selection is survival of the fittest, and the tautology hinges on the word fittest. When the fittest are identified by their survival then there is a tautology. We ask, who are the fittest? We are told, the survivors. We ask, who will survive? We are told, the fittest. Natural selection is then ‘the survival of the survivors.’ It is a tautology.” ↩
- ReMine, 1993, p. 100: “To demonstrate an absence of tautology, evolutionists must show that adaption and survival are different concepts. They must show that adaption can be measured independently of survival.” ↩