Darwin’s theory of natural selection defines it as the process by which favorable traits that are heritable become more common in successive generations of a population of reproducing organisms, and unfavorable traits that are heritable become less common.

Natural selection acts on the phenotype of an individual.

Generally an aesthetically good looking person has a higher probability of attracting a person of the opposite gender. You wonder then, what happens to the rest? Not to worry, favorable traits doesn’t just mean looks, it also means good character.

You can ask yourself, if you were forced to choose to either go out with a person who has a pleasant/jovial character or one who oozes negativity and pessimism. Who would you go out with?

The most likely answer would be the prior.
That is self preservation. Logically speaking, no one would want to be brought down by another’s pessimism.

Following that self preservation thought but on a different note, you may have all the looks and super character traits, but Darwin forgot to factor in another important point.

My friend, L has been going out with this guy T for a while. At the start, she couldn’t really accept him aesthetically, but after a while she started to grow fond of his character traits. The relationship blossomed as they discovered more and more about each other. Obviously there was a ‘match’ in their phenotype. But recently, there has been an upheaval.

The silent weapon – religious differences. That has nothing to do with phenotype nor genotype. True, self-preservation kicks in. No one wants to compromise. What happens then? I don’t think I interpreted Darwin’s theory wrongly. And I can hear Darwin-ian scholars exclaim that it isn’t supposed to be interpreted this way and of course we have to take other factors into consideration. Whatever.

Going back to phenotype and genotypes, so what if Darwin’s theory is right, does it mean that if a person isn’t blessed with good looks or good character, he or she may have to resign themselves to spending the rest of their life alone with no friends nor a family of their own.

What can they do then?
I guess there are always self-help classes available or a session with the psychologist.

Let’s face it, the world is brutal.