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Definition of an Adaptation
Genes create adaptations. An adaptation is a unit of biological function that has survival or reproductive benefits for the individual. Adaptations such as music and language actually benefit the gene, because it's the gene that replicates, not the body. In that sense, genes behave “selfishly.” But that does not necessarily mean the organisms the genes create behave utterly selfishly. It’s often to the advantage of genes to select for unselfishness as a behavioural trait in the organisms they build. For example:
- Parents behave unselfishly towards their own children, who carry their parents’ genes.
- Children benefit from their parents’ caring, nurturing, unselfish behaviour by surviving to reproductive age, still carrying their parents’ genes.
- Those children pass on their parents’ genes to yet another generation.
Organisms eventually die, but the genes they once carried keep replicating. Most humans and all non-human animals have no idea that genes made them, and that if they have offspring, they will have successfully served as vehicles for gene replication. It’s important to keep in mind that genes are not living things. They are just strands of DNA—a decidedly non-living molecule. Humans are neither cold, calculating “gene machines” nor “blank slates,” programmed by the social environment.
In the discussions coming up about why music evolved in humans, keep in mind how adaptations evolve in light of selfish gene theory. Genes build adaptations of the body and brain that enable humans to successfully survive, reproduce, and pass on copies of ... genes.