Survival and Concepts

1> No creature is capable of having a concept that is not directly related to survival.
A> In order to understand any concept a creature may or may not have one must relate it directly to its survival value.

2> Survival value falls into the following progression:
A> Survival of the individual.
B> Survival of the species the individual belongs too.
C> Survival of the overall ecology, or life itself.

A> Instinct for the survival of the individual needs no defense. It is so widely held a belief that it needs refutation, if possible.
In fact when we see instances of individuals of any species acting against its own survival most people are at a loss for any possible explanation except “aberration” or “insanity”.
Yet it has been scientifically demonstrated in several species this is not at all true.

B> It has been demonstrated in scientific studies that the instinct to save the species will override the instinct for self-preservation when certain criteria are met.
Rats, deer, and fowl, have all been studied in situations where overpopulation has become a serious problem. The study of deer, I am convinced, took place on Three Mile Island, but whether before or after the radiation incident I fail to remember.
Each species demonstrates traits similar to humans in large, overcrowded cities. From displays of hypertension to dysfunctional sexual activity, suicide, and murder.
Survival of the species overrides survival of the individual.

Survival of the Ecology over survival of the species is a little harder to demonstrate, but there is evidence, and that evidence begins with humans.
For our purposes we will define humanity as that species which has the most versatile set of concepts known to exist. No other species has yet been demonstrated to have as wide a variety of useful survival concepts as we have.
The concept of ecology over benefit to the species, in this case humanity, has come to the fore lately, but it has been around much longer.
When I was a child white people openly bragged about how they had come to American and tamed it. Made their mark. Changed the land and controlled it. While those ignorant savages, the Indians, had lived here for thousands of years and never made a single mark upon the land. It was as if they had never existed. White people then pointed to the cities, the skyscrapers, the roads, etc as proof they had civilized the land.
Nowadays most people take the reverse position. They see the Native American Indians as having lived in harmony with the land while the influx of Europeans defiled it.

Conclusion:

Our concepts are changing because just as survival of the species trumps survival of the individual, survival of the ecology trumps survival of the species.

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