Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution has been interpreted in different ways by scholars like Dawkins and Gould, and has become an important framework for understanding the evolution of life and the nature of human society. Dawkins believes that genes are the key to evolution and that life is a tool for spreading them, which has been used as an argument to explain selfish behavior and competition. Gould, on the other hand, argued that evolution is the result of increased diversity, not simply gene-centered, and warned that evolutionary theory should not be misused to reinforce social prejudice.
The day Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species, the world was shaken. The idea of “evolution” has influenced many areas of society ever since, and continues to do so today in a variety of research directions. There are many different perspectives on evolutionary theory, including Richard Dawkins’ The Selfish Gene and Stephen Jay Gould’s Full House. Because they specialize in different fields, their interpretations of evolutionary theory are bound to be different. However, evolutionary theory is still a work in progress, based on evidence derived from hundreds of millions of years of tracking, and it’s still a work in progress. Until we know what future research will reveal, and until we have the ability to manipulate genes or control time to our liking, we will never know for sure what direction biological evolution will take.
Both Gould and Dawkins have argued for evolution in their own ways, studying contemporary organisms and fossils from the past. By understanding these different evolutionary perspectives, we have developed an anthropocentric view of evolution, which has allowed us to understand and explore the phenomena in the world. It is true that evolutionary theory has contributed to the progress and development of civilization, but on the other hand, it has also created many social problems. Therefore, it is necessary to look at the impact of evolutionary theory on civilization and think about the problems it has caused in society.
Charles Darwin’s book shook the world not only because he explained “evolution,” but also because he presented the mechanism of evolution and suggested a new direction of evolution through various observations and evidence.
First, all organisms have more offspring than can survive in a given environment.
Second, those children are born with various traits.
Third, only those individuals with traits adapted to a given environment survive to produce offspring.
Fourth, the traits of the surviving individuals are passed on to their descendants.
All of these mechanisms are known as natural selection, and the current theory of evolution centers on Darwin’s proposed mechanisms to study and develop how life adapts and evolves.
Richard Dawkins, an evolutionary biologist and animal behaviorist at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, published the book The Selfish Gene, which cites the theory of group selection. In it, he argued that natural selection works at the level of genes rather than the individuals themselves, and that every behavior of an organism evolves to spread its genes further. Dawkins believes that genes are the agents of evolution, that living things are merely carriers of genes, and that the mechanisms of survival are ultimately in the genes. He views evolution from a gene perspective, explaining that all living things have evolved to make more copies of their genes. Dawkins’s claims have sparked global interest in the concept of genes.
Simply put, Dawkins believes that natural selection operates primarily at the gene level, which is the most important factor from an evolutionary perspective. As such, organisms will naturally behave in a way that allows them to replicate their genes, which also explains the causes of altruistic behavior. This has led to the view that evolutionary theory is simply evidence to understand the phenomenon of a selfish society.
While Dawkins’ theory was originally intended to understand biological change, it also became a tool to rationalize some of society’s errors by changing the way we understand and view human beings. In the 1930s, population genetics and experimental genetics attempted to explain the history of life using Darwin’s mutations and natural selection. Attempts to understand life through genes have continued unabated, and along the way, bioethical questions have been raised. However, we are now reaching the stage of artificial selection that goes beyond natural selection. If genes come to define the direction of evolution, natural selection will be overridden, and inequality and social discrimination will likely increase in modern competitive societies.
This thinking has helped rationalize eugenics and genetic manipulation in the past, as well as the systems of modern competitive societies. Hitler, for example, believed in eugenics from an evolutionary perspective and argued that genocide would advance human evolution. This led many to accept that genes determine human behavior, and the justification for a competitive society and selfishness raises the question of whether humans have been reduced to mere creatures driven to survive.
Genetic engineering has advanced at a tremendous pace, and research has uncovered many traits that are determined by our genes. However, there is also skepticism that the idea of evolution may have been the driving force behind our selfish behavior and competitive society.
Stephen Jay Gould, a paleontologist and evolutionary biologist at Harvard University in the United States, has a different view: he sees evolution as neither development nor progress nor regression, but simply the process by which organisms with different traits are passed on to the next generation. Gould warns that it’s dangerous to focus all of evolution on genes, arguing that they are only one factor in evolution.
In the history of humanity, there is a clear distinction between the life that existed in primitive times and the most complex organisms today, humans. Citing the diversity and complexity of bacteria as an example, Gould argued that evolution is not genetic progress, but simply an increase in diversity. He also emphasized that there are many factors at play in natural selection, and that variation is driven by chance and survival is contingent.
According to Gould, evolutionary theory does not only contribute to unlocking the secrets of life, but it can also be used as a tool to explain abnormal and selfish human behavior. He criticizes Francis Goulton’s concept of eugenics and warns that evolutionary theory should not be used as a tool to reinforce racism or social prejudice.
As you can see, Dawkins and Gould’s arguments have sparked heated debate beyond evolutionary theory. They both believe that life evolved from ancestors billions of years ago, and that evolution is natural and chance plays a large role. The theory of evolution is open to many interpretations, but in the end, it is the process by which life changes over time.
Evolutionary theory has evolved beyond the realm of natural science into new disciplines such as social evolutionary theory and sociobiology. Sociobiology explains the complex social behavior of humans in terms of survival evolution, which shows how the external environment influences the way we think. However, it’s dangerous to try to interpret all behavior as genetically driven.
Given that evolutionary theory has justified capitalism, competitive societies, and the concept of survival of the fittest, the conflation of liberalism with natural phenomena is fraught with ethical problems. Dawkins tried to explain religious beliefs by creating cultural memory units called memes, but he acknowledged the limitation that genetics and evolution cannot explain all emotions and values.
While evolutionary theory has opened up new ways of understanding humanity, it can also be misused, as we’ve seen in the examples above. Evolutionary theory should be used as a tool to understand our social structures, values, and human nature, not as a means to reinforce social prejudice or notions of superiority.
