Understood correctly, social Darwinism refers as much to cooperation and community as it does to individuals looking out only for their immediate self-interest.
Our hominid ancestors learned to cooperate in order to hunt and raise families successfully. It’s true of other primates too, especially apes. Chimpanzees coordinate hunting and child rearing, share food, and demonstrate emotional sensitivities to other members of their troops. They work together to solve problems too, as this Youtube video shows:
We always strive to increase our chances for individual survival, so self-interest never leaves the equation. But the term “social Darwinism” or “Darwinian” behavior conjures up images of purely uncharitable egoism. This is a harmful misunderstanding of Charles Darwin and evolutionary theory that is often used to discredit the scientific truth of social relations in the human and animal world.
In 2009 we celebrated two extraordinary and intimately connected anniversaries. Charles Darwin was born on February 12, 1809 in Shrewsbury, England. Fifty years later the great naturalist published what many consider to be the most profound book ever written, The Origin of Species. Darwin’s 200th birthday and the 150th anniversary of The Origin both take place in the same year. Two excellent reasons to celebrate!
The academic field of communication has unfortunately ignored evolution completely. This omission looms despite the fact that beginning with sexual signaling and early language continuing all the way to active participation by people in the vast electronic and digital networks that pervade modern life, communication processes determine the way humans develop. Nothing is more important than communication for understanding where our species has been and where we’re headed.
The dual evolutionary structure Charles Darwin identified—mutation and selection—becomes a trinity: mutation, selection, and communication.