Darwinism
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Overview
Darwinism refers to the scientific theory of evolution through natural selection, which was first published by Charles Darwin. It is often referred to as simply "the theory of evolution" or just "evolution", although this is actually a conflation of two different concepts:
- evolution refers to the idea that the nature of a species can change (or "evolve") over time, a fact which can be directly observed over human timescales, especially in lower life-forms such as bacteria.
- natural selection refers to the idea that competition for scarce resources inevitably leads to a contest in which those who are more "fit", i.e. those individuals whose particular characteristics make them more likely to win the "competition" for those resources, are more likely to survive and pass any genetic component of that "fitness" on to their descendants.
Note: much of the evolution article needs to be moved here, and many other articles linking to evolution should link here instead. Also evolution by natural selection and evolution through natural selection should redirect here... or should it go the other way? -W.