Natural selection
Process by which organisms adapt and change over time, becoming better suited for survival in their environment. In the article accompanying the podcast, it is stated that the structure of cities did not evolve in this adaptive manner; this means that cities have not changed over time to effectively meet the needs of their inhabitants.
Natural selection refers to a mechanism by which evolution occurs, where certain genetic traits become more or less prevalent in a population over time due to their impact on an organism’s fitness or ability to survive and reproduce. Simply put, natural selection is the process by which organisms better adapted to their environment tend to survive and produce more offspring than their less-adapted peers.
Charles Darwin proposed the concept of natural selection in his seminal work, “On the Origin of Species.” According to this theory, organisms with inherited traits that make them more adapted to their environment are more likely to survive long enough to reproduce and pass their advantageous traits on to their offspring, ultimately leading to the spread of these traits through the species population over time.
For example, a bird with a longer beak may be better equipped to access food in its environment and, therefore, more likely to survive and reproduce than a bird with a shorter beak. Over several generations, as the bird with the advantageous beak continues to thrive and produce offspring with similarly long beaks, this trait may become more prevalent in the bird population, while the trait of a shorter beak may decline.
Overall, natural selection is a key factor in the evolution of species, and understanding the process can provide insight into the origins and development of life on Earth.
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