On Natural Selection

Darwin takes a two step approach to proving natural selection. First, he observes domestic animals too see how they develop. In contrast to Paley, Darwin believes that all the farm animals we use are of similar origins, and that breeders are able to select them for certain traits that make them more useful. So rather than all creatures come to life on their own, domestic animal breeding shows that things that make one animal excel in its purpose are what make it selected for breeding and passing on its genetic information into the next generation. But does such a system exist in the wild? For Darwin, yes, and in two forms. One is his Struggle for Existence. Here, Darwin explains that in order to be selected for you must be a better competitor for whatever resources you desire in order to continue on into the next generation. This is due to physical traits like being faster, stronger, better hidden, and any other physical advantage. Another aspect of his Natural Selection in nature is Sexual Selection, where being sexually attractive for mating, even if your physically hindered, means you are selected for. Both of these add up to his theory of Natural Selection, and he believes that his observations of wildlife has come to show patterns that support this: Some wolves have access to certain prey, some cats are better hunters then others, and some birds are more sexually attractive than others. Whatever is best at what they do are inevitably going to be the ones who live on into future generations, for inevitably being better means your going to override those beneath.