Darwin Day (February 12) is not just a celebration of Charles Darwin’s contributions to science—it is an opportunity to reflect on the profound impact of evolution in shaping life, behavior, and society. Evolution is more than a scientific theory about the origins of species; it is a fundamental principle that explains change, adaptation, and survival across all aspects of life. In a world facing unprecedented social, political, and environmental challenges, understanding evolution helps us navigate the present and prepare for the future. We asked three questions to members of the ProSocial community to engage them in a conversation about how evolutionary thinking can guide us in addressing today’s most pressing issues: What does evolution mean to you? Why is evolution important? and How does evolution apply in our everyday lives?
The responses we received highlight the many ways in which evolution informs our understanding of human nature, cooperation, and progress. From the biological foundations of our social behaviors to the ways in which knowledge and culture evolve, the insights shared underscore the relevance of Darwin’s ideas far beyond the natural sciences. At a time when division, uncertainty, and existential threats challenge our collective survival, embracing an evolutionary perspective reminds us that adaptation, cooperation, and learning from the past are essential for shaping a better future. Darwin’s legacy is not just about where we came from—it is about where we are going, and whether we, as a species, can evolve in ways that allow us to thrive together. What would your responses be?
What Does Evolution Mean To You?
"Evolution is change: variation, selection, and replication. In an ever changing world, it is necessary to understand what is being replicated."
- Seemi Waheed
Humans like all species are products of the evolutionary process of variation, fitness, and heritability. We are not blank slates. We bear the indelible stamp of our lowly origins. Hence, we can be narrow, self-protective, and selfish, but we are also prosocial and fully capable of reciprocal altruism. That insight allows us to understand human imperfection, negative behavior, irrationality, and even violence. These things discourage us and set back human progress. However, we can have hope and work toward our tendency for reciprocal altruism and making life on the planet a peaceful, law-based, happy global society.
- James Hely
"Theodosius Dobzhansky once said, 'nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution.' I would expand that to include the behavioral and social sciences. We largely evolved to how we behave both genetically and culturally. The most prominent feature of that in Homo sapiens is our tribal behavior. When asked what they thought of Homo sapiens, the AI engine Google Gemini 2.0 said, for the negative side, 'First, tribalism and prejudice. Your tendency to divide yourselves into us and them based on arbitrary factors is a source of endless conflict and suffering.' If we cannot learn to transcend this urge to 'gang up and fight,' to view outsiders as inferior, indeed we are forever condemned to endless conflict and suffering."
- Ken Teixeira
Why Is Evolution Important?
"Evolution is such a special process, it comforts most of my curiosities. But for me, a very impactful part of the story is how reluctant Darwin was to publish, the anguish he felt over the conflict between his observations and his religious obligations. I love this story, the bulldogs Lyell and Cuvier (or was it Buckland?) pressuring Darwin to publish his findings to connect and validate their work on continental drift and paleontology.
In the story I know, it was a wild fever dream continents away that dropped the final pin into this key. Alfred Russel Wallace scooped Darwin’s decades of work in a literal fever. That alone thrills me!If not for this fever, if not for ARW having the coherence to follow up the idea, to make it all the way to Darwin, to trip the wire, to get him to publish.
Am I being too romantic?
I love evolution: the process, and I love evolution: the history.
If not for Darwin’s publication, would another human have described it by now?"
- Jen Paur
"We have a challenged, if not imperiled, civilization in 2025. The Doomsday Clock of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists received its annual setting on January 28, 2025. We are now 89 seconds to midnight (where midnight signifies the human-caused destruction of civilization). This is the closest to midnight we have been in its over 75 year history.
Given that, the question most relevant to Darwin and evolution is his argument that humans who formed more prosocial groups were able to outcompete less prosocial groups. Can enough members of our species consciously evolve their thinking and values to where they are willing to sacrifice - life, liberty, professional standing, economic security, etc - to behave prosocially in the less than adequately trustworthy institutions that now mediate the individual and collective lives of planet Earth's eight billion crew members?
- Joseph Carson
"Darwin’s theory of evolution allowed us to understand the development of all species without any need for supernatural explanations. One of the major tasks he left unfinished was the development of an evolutionary understanding of rapidly evolving human communities. As Tielhard de Chardin presciently saw, once evolution created a species with the capabilities of Homo sapiens, a whole new evolutionary tree of community life forms became possible. The earth is now covered with these new forms of life and our great challenge, following in Darwin’s footsteps, is to understand how evolution works with communities."
- Fred Bartels
"We are social beings. We need connection with others to live, be, and grow. Individualism is not a functional adaptive behavior."
- Carina Lescano
"Similar to history, evolution provides an important framework for understanding our present reality in light of the past. Many aspects of human life could benefit from reflection on how evolutionary principles underpin and can be used to improve our current problems."
- Luke Johnson
"Evolution is a scientifically proven process which helps us understand how we got to where we are today, assess the important changes we are seeing in lifeforms today, and attempt to predict where we may be headed in the future. It sheds light on our ability to adapt to the greatly accelerated changes we are experiencing in our environment today."
- Steve Kramer
How Does Evolution Apply in Our Everyday Lives?
"Evolution in humans is not confined to physical changes. Since humans evolved the ability to communicate using symbols including voice, vision, writing, and, lastly, computers. We have been able to pass knowledge forward in time from generation to generation building intelligence exponentially. Humans have the capacity to use this intelligence to foresee future scenarios, potentially adapting their behaviour in order further life on this planet."
- Allan Rowell
"Everyday life is about living in communities. We can pretend to be "self-reliant" individuals and it may offer short term success but, ultimately, our health and wellbeing and that of the whole planet depends on recognising our relatedness and interdependence."
- Patricia Scott
"The more we evolve, the better suited we are to face whatever circumstances are in front of us. Remaining stuck in patterns that no longer serve us is self-destructive. The best way to prolong our survival is to learn from our past and learn to live in harmony with each other. The more experiences and capacities we can draw on by working collectively, the stronger we are individually as well."
- Amber Jones
"We are all inter-related."
- Thomas
"Life is still evolving, as we are gradually seeing in life forms which are adapting physically to environmental changes. We are also seeing the ramifications of what happens when life is not able to adapt, as more and more species are becoming extinct. This trend is a huge warning sign of where we may be headed if we do not engage in a more altruistic relationship with our environment and the other life forms we share this world with."
- Steve Kramer
