2021-12-16 – What if you are the weakest link?

I just got back from walking the dog. We’ve had high winds all night and the wind is forecast to continue through the day. The leaves are now mostly gone—without raking. Thanks wind! But the ground is littered with twigs and branches. Some are big branches. They were the weakest links.

It’s a popular perception that evolution is about weeding out the weakest links. The slogan was: survival of the fittest. Some people think that adversity propels evolution—and they want to encourage that. As Nietzsche once said: “That which does not kill us makes us stronger.”

Pietzche.

This is nonsense of course. Evolution is definitely about survival. But it’s not just about avoiding extinction. It’s also about living well, whatever type of organism you might happen to be. It’s about having kids that grow and thrive.

You never know when you might be the weakest link.

You might have a family that depends on you for their survival. You’ve been their strength for your whole life. Then you get COVID and die.

Strength and weakness in one person.

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