Among the most widespread prejudices against modern evolutionary theory is the notion that selection would favour strong, mean, selfish phenotypes. As I had the joy to lecture last week at the invitation of the evolutionary biologists at Tübingen University around Prof. Nico Michiels, I met a bunch of bright and open-minded people open to interdisciplinary dialogue and the public. Among other things, they had produced a creative song and clip for use in Web 2.0 in order to counter prejudices against evolution. See for yourself!

The real Meaning of "Survival of the Fittest"

I definitely love this video clip not only because of its creativity, but because it is emphasizing a major issue: Evolutionary fitness is not about "surviving" phenotypes amidst maximal pleasure, but about having children and grandchildren! The purple team is very strong, sporty and exclusively focused on winning. The orange team first seems to be clearly inferior, but they help and care for each other - they love.

Which team is winning evolution? In the short run, purple is having its hits. But generation after generation, the orange team is reinforced by its kids, finally winning the "game". The Homepage of the Darwinrocks-Project comments: "This is, of course, a reason for Professor Darwin to celebrate with his colleagues. Finally, he could prove what he had always said: It´s not about power, but about reproduction and love. Only then can you win in evolution."

The Reproductive Benefit of Religiosity

The joyul clip proved to be a wonderful starting point for my lecture on "The Evolution of Religiosity". At the start, I asked the audience to imagine the orange team as religious people endorsing pro-family traditions through words and deeds. Even if they would ignore or deny evolution - they would "win" it. If you are interested, see the Scilogs-post "Homo religiosus" for more.

See also the German Version on the Scilog post: "Evolutionsprinzip Überleben - oder Überlieben?"