Survival
“Intelligence
is the ability to adapt to change.”
Stephen
Hawken
Stephen Hawken was echoing Albert Einstein when he wrote this. And before them, Charles Darwin wrote, “In the struggle for survival, the fittest will win out at the expense of their rivals because they succeed in adapting themselves best to their environment.” There is one constant in living organisms, and that is change. If something is not changing, then it is not alive. In fact, W. Edwards Deming, a Mathematician and economist of the 20th century, put it this way: “It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory.”
I went to Costco yesterday—the Mecca of capitalism—where no one could walk into the store unless they wore a mask. Dutifully, I strapped on both mask and gloves, but I noticed as I loaded enormous quantities of STUFF into my car, that some people yanked their masks off as soon as they walked out of the store. Clearly, they resisted wearing one at all, and probably would not put it back on by choice. Both our president and vice-president have been recently photographed doing the same thing. During this coronavirus pandemic in which the number of cases and deaths is still climbing, that is a Darwinian choice in action. “Survival is not mandatory.” Unfortunately, the survival of that person may not be of concern—it could be their families’, or coworkers’, or some random stranger’s survival that is in question.
In the last four months, things have changed. The world has changed. And we, too, must change. If we do not discover within us the intelligence to adapt, or if we fancy ourselves impervious to the invasion of a deadly virus, then we may not make it. Worldwide, almost 364,000 people have already died from it, and we’re just getting started. So, go bungee jump off a cliff, skydive, climb Everest, or refuse to wear a mask—they are all equally risky behaviors. Perhaps in their next lifetime, they will have a little more aptitude for survival.
In the Spirit,
Jane
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