Tautology Equivocation

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onar aam
http://groups.google.fm/group/sci.bio.evolution/browse_frm/thread/6d90764876baaab1/27abc531f977929f?tvc=1&q=tautology+selection#27abc531f977929f

Survival of the fittest is indeed a tautolgy. (not that there is anything wrong in that. All internally consistent conceptual frameworks are tautologies.) But the statement needn't have to be a tautology. Fitness can take on a definition which intrinsically separates it from survival. This is done by Ben Goertzel in his "The Evolving Mind". He uses fitness as in "fit like a glove". In other words, a social/ecological concept. The underlying assumption here is that ecologies are governed by emergent differentiation. In ecologies emergent interrelations are formed (e.g. different niches) and Goertzel's idea is that fitness means that these structures don't "crash" or intersect. Species will tend to avoid each others niches. Thus, his contention is that those species that fit into an ecological structure will tend to survive.

NOTES: "Survival of the fittest" on its own is logical validity - Tautology1. "Survival of the fittest and therefore my mommy had a long tail" is a rhetorical tautology, the conclusion is a non-sequitur. There certainly is nothing wrong with "survival of the fittest", "A or not-A" and "what happens, happens" as a logical validity. All internally consistent conceptual frameworks are based on type tautology1.

http://www.conservapedia.com/Natural_selection he fundamental statement of natural selection is that heritable traits which are beneficial will tend to become more numerous in successive generations, while heritable traits which are harmful will tend to become more scarce. The traits are defined to be beneficial if they become more numerous in successive generations. This principle is general, and applies to any system of individuals which reproduce; it is most commonly applied to systems of living organisms. It is sometimes summarized by the slogan, survival of the fittest.

Natural selection is often thought of as being synonymous with evolution,[1] although they are distinct concepts, and most creationists accept that natural selection is a real, observed, process.