Persuasive Essay About Survival

Often times, when we hear the term, “survival of the fittest,” we associate it with animals and how they have taken advantage of their evolutionary timeline. Even though the term might imply that the animal most “fit” would be more likely to survive, it is not in the sense of how physically fit they are. According to Charles Darwin, “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” But in the world of science fiction, would we consider change in regards to the conditions of planet Earth, or another planet such as Mars? Or perhaps the change would be in regards to the surrounding conditions of a space ship going at speed of light? The main question to ask would be if survival …show more content…
As seen in the case of “The Cold Equations”, the evolutionary history of man, or woman in this case, does not help her survive in a world dictated by machines and mathematical equations. Just because she had made a mistake, which any human could have made, does not provide sufficient moral justification for her execution. In fact, survival of the fittest can even be put to blame, since the curiosity which led Marilyn to speaking on board the ship was an evolutionary aspect in humans. By thinking of survival of the fittest in this way, the tables are indeed turned, to make us think that it is not such a good thing. In Mark Watney’s case, however, we are forced to rethink this assertion. Because of the ingenuity and complexity of human thinking, which we gained as a result of evolution, we are often led to rely on these aspects to survive. If not for Watney’s quick-thinking, he would have died on the foreign planet of Mars. Due to this evidence, the question of whether or not the survival of the fittest is a fair rule, proves to be a more complicated and philosophical question, which would ultimately depend on the situation the person in question is placed