What is Social Darwinism?
Q: What is Social Darwinism?
A: Social Darwinism is a term used for different movements which use the ideas from Charles Darwin's theory of evolution to explain human society. It suggests that people who have more skills will become more successful, and can spread their influence and change the politics and society around them to make it better for themselves.
Q: Who was Charles Darwin?
A: Charles Darwin was a British naturalist who proposed the theory of evolution, which explains how different life-forms change over time. He suggested that some offspring may have different features or traits than their parents, meaning they are better adapted to their environment and thus have a better chance at survival.
Q: What did Nazi ideologies believe about Survival of the Fittest?
A: Nazi ideologies combined the idea of Survival of the Fittest with racism, claiming that the Aryan race was superior to all other races and needed more space in Eastern Europe (where mostly Slavs lived). This belief has since been seen as wrong due to lack of evidence that Slavs were any better or worse than Germans as individuals.
Q: How did Leo Tolstoy feel about Darwin's ideas?
A: Leo Tolstoy strongly disagreed with what he thought were Darwin's ideas, warning his children not to take his struggle for existence as a moral guide in a letter from his death bed. However, Darwin never suggested his ideas should be used as a basis for human life; rather they were just descriptions of what had happened in evolution.
Q: What does Social Darwinsim say about people who are more able to survive?
A: Social Darwinsim says that people who are more able to survive will be able to have kids with similar abilities, allowing them to become more successful and spread their influence throughout society in order to make it better for themselves.
Q: How do offspring differ from their parents according to evolutionary biology?
A: According to evolutionary biology, most offspring are not exactly like their parents; some may have different features or traits which mean they are better adapted for survival in certain environments than others.
