This article discusses how humans have escaped the clutches of nature and formed their own societies, but have not completely escaped the mechanisms of natural selection. It explores how human intellect and social development have changed the laws of nature, and whether they remain part of nature.
The concept of evolution is not new to us. Most people now believe that we came into existence through a long, eons-long process called evolution. Darwin’s theory of evolution has long dominated scientific and social debate, and has become one of the most widely recognized theories explaining the origins of humanity. According to this theory, living things have evolved through natural selection, adapting to ever-changing environments. But at some point, humans escaped the grip of nature that made evolution possible. We are no longer in a race for survival in nature. We live safely within the confines of society, occasionally reaching out to save dying plants and animals, or ravaging the habitats of other creatures.
The point is, regardless of our origins, we are now something different. We dare to manipulate nature’s great forces. The technological advances we’ve made since the Industrial Revolution have given us the ability to control and even change the forces of nature. Today, humans are able to prepare for natural disasters and even accelerate the evolution of life through genetic manipulation. But some say we are still part of nature. The implication of being part of nature is that we cannot escape the influence of other members of nature, or that we are governed by natural laws. In this article, we’ll talk about evolution, one of the laws of nature, and whether humans are still subject to natural selection, the basic mechanism of evolution.
What does Richard Dawkins, author of The Selfish Gene, have to say about this? He says that as a product of evolution, human consciousness arose as the brain developed, in the same way that herbivores gradually acquired long legs that allowed them to run faster. Consciousness is a product of evolution, but it’s also a force that can defy evolution, he says. This means that by knowing who we are, we have the ability to refuse to act as our genes have programmed us to act. For Richard Dawkins, rejecting evolution means rejecting our genetically programmed instincts. The best example of this is martyrdom. Only humans are capable of giving up the instinctive pursuit of survival for the sake of human spiritual values and beliefs.
Clearly, humans are different from other animals because of our unique intellect. Humans have created societies and isolated themselves from other species. However, this does not mean that competition for survival has disappeared within human societies. Rather, humans created a monetary system that turned all the resources needed to eat, shelter, and raise a family into money. Furthermore, we have developed a system of excessive competition called capitalism, which creates a situation where there is always a loser. In addition, not all members of human societies have offspring; in fact, many people choose not to have children.
Human societies provide an interesting case study from an evolutionary perspective. Although natural selection seems to have disappeared with the development of human societies, its mechanisms have actually become more complex and sophisticated. Social status, economic success, education level, etc. are important factors that determine “survival” and “adaptation” in modern society. This has created a different type of evolutionary pressure than the selection by physical strength or physical traits of the past.
Thus, human-made societies are, to borrow Richard Dawkins’ phrase, groups dominated by the strategies of highly intelligent individuals who suddenly appeared in a space where the overall intelligence of the population was low, and where everyone could only adopt short-sighted strategies. Within this specialized group, as in other parts of nature, exclusivity and selfishness are preserved, and a kind of natural selection takes place within the competition of adaptation and culling. But what is different from the rest of nature is the value that humans have created to distinguish themselves from other species: human dignity. Based on this human dignity, humans can survive in human society even if they are culled in the competition for survival, and humans are forbidden to kill each other.
Some may argue that because there is competition within human society, it is an overstatement to view human society as part of the natural world. This is because humans don’t just seek to survive and reproduce; they also seek to live mentally fulfilling lives. But can humans ignore their physical needs? As physical beings, we live by instinct before we pursue spiritual values, which is why we need restaurants and toilets in human societies, and why most humans, even in the 21st century, need to work to earn a living. People seek a good home, good food, and a good spouse, and goods are limited, and we have to work harder to get them, so-called survival activities.
To summarize, human society is part of nature. It is unfortunate that human society has not been able to completely separate itself from the natural world, even though we have an intelligence that sets us apart from other animals. One day, when we are truly free from the problem of sustenance, that will be the first time our intellect has done its job. But until then, we will have to accept that we still live under the laws of nature.
