May the best man win

Darwin’s theory of Natural Selection, or the “principle, by which each slight variation, if useful, is preserved,” is not a foreign concept to many of us. Not only is it not foreign, it is also accepted by a great number of people today in modern society. When Darwin first published this piece, back in 1859, most did not believe anything Darwin was proposing about Natural Selection. Since most people today don’t need much persuading to find truth in Darwin’s theories, I think it would make more sense to address what the most plausible argument would be for those who are being presented with these concepts for the first time, like those in 1859 when Darwin first published his work. If I was living back in 1859 I think the best evidence would be Darwin’s idea of Sex Selection, mainly because it is something anyone who observes animals could believe. As Darwin says, Sex Selection is a “struggle between the males for possession of the females; the result is not death to the unsuccessful competitor, but few or no offspring.” As visible in most species, Sex Selection is a type of natural selection. Darwin’s examples that he gives includes male stags having horns, so as to better fight for females, male alligators and salmons, fight extensively to win over a female so they can reproduce and pass on their genes. Those animals that do not have these special characteristics will undoubtedly be less likely to survive and thus less likely to have their genes passed on to their offspring. Therefore, those genes that help males fight for females will be passed on through future generations. As stated by Darwin, “in many cases, victory will depend not on general vigor, but on having special weapons.” Again, these special weapons can be characteristics that are either helpful in battle or attractive to females. I believe that this is Darwin’s best argument because it is the most plausible and the most visible in daily life.