Red in Tooth and Claw

The other day, I was reading Tennyson's elegy (In Memoriam A. H. H.? (1850) for his friend Arthur Harlam who died suddenly in 1833 of a brain hemorrhage .

I suppose I was reading it as an attempt to salve my heart after my own recent loss of a relationship by exploring Tennyson's (1809 - 1892) concept of, "Tis better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all." The verdict is still undecided. for me on whether it is better to have loved and lost ... but that's an analysis for another day.

Navigating the poem, I came across this piece, "Tho' Nature, red in tooth and claw," and my magpie mind went in another direction altogether. It fell upon Charles Darwin (1809 - 1882).

Evidently, 'red in tooth and claw' speaks to savage or merciless conflict or competition in nature.

Darwin postulated that living organisms are perpetually embroiled in a "struggle for existence." For him, struggle and violence drove evolutionary advancement.

Darwin stressed the importance of the individual and that evolution is a matter of survival of the fittest individuals. Today's society shows that Darwin's theory prevails - we are a selfish and combative species that values winning above all else.

What if there were another way? What if evolution is not about the survival of the fittest individuals but rather of the fittest groups?

This concept was put forward 50 years before Darwin by the distinguished French biologist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck (1744 - 1829). He took a more benign and optimistic view of evolution rather than 'red in tooth and claw' that we witness today.

Lamarck's theory was based on "instructive" cooperation among organisms that enables life forms to survive and evolve in an ever-changing world. The church strongly opposed the concept of humans evolving from lower life forms. They considered this idea as heresy.

Scientists have known for a long time that organisms share genes among individuals of the same species and even among individuals of different species. In this way organisms can acquire "learned" experiences from other organisms. It gives credence to the saying, "I am because of you." Sharing of genes and information doesn't appear to be a random occurrence. It's natures way of enhancing the survival of the species. Source: The Biology of Belief: Unleashing the Power of Consciousness, Matter & Miracles.

And, here's an interesting question: "What is a species?"

Daniel Drell, the manager of the Department of Energy's microbial genome programme, made a thought-provoking statement about the concept of species. He stated that it is no longer easy to define what constitutes a species.

The entire biosphere that's called earth is in this together. We cannot survive in isolation and in a selfish manner. If you doubt this, let's see what happens if bees go extinct ... we're all royally fu#*ed. That's just one small example; I'm sure you know lots more.

Choose the idea of Lamarck's optimism of survival-of-the-fittest groups, rather than Darwinian defeatism of survival-of-the-fittest individuals.

Choose not combat and competition.

Choose collaboration and co-operation.

Choose each other. The stronger we make each other, the stronger we become.