[kochikame]

But this falls down a little bit if you apply it to animals.

I mean, chickens are tasty and all, and there are probably billions of them in the world right now... but do you call living in a cage with your beak cut off "prospering"? From a purely genetic propagation point of view they are prospering I guess... but at what cost?

[mijamo]

I don't think evolution cares about anything really. Plenty of species live pretty miserable lives, and evolution can lead them to even more miserable lives.

Evolution is not a conscious being, it is not positive nor negative, it does not try to achieve anything, and particularly not happiness for anybody.

In a similar way, we don't need to protect the environment in the sake of nature. Nature does not care, evolution does not care. Humans are the ones who care. We are the ones worrying about other animals lives, preserving species and landscape, both for romantic and practical reasons.

A super foreign virus could come tomorrow and kill all complex life on earth. Would that be a disaster? For us yes, but in general life would follow its course anyway and evolve again. Nothing has a meaning except the one we are to give.

[DyslexicAtheist]

chicken evolution might simply be biding it's time.

until one day when an avian virus spreads through chicken and wipes out humanity, leaving them to become the ruling species on this planet.

"the one who clucks last, clucks the loudest" (-- old chicken proverb)

[senorjazz]

> but do you call living in a cage with your beak cut off "prospering"?

Take dogs, 6-12 in a litter, can give birth twice a year. Naturally (street dogs) most young will die, those that end up in to adult hood will be half starved and diseased.

Not exactly a pleasant life, but having so many young, they can survive the high death / suffering rate.

I am not sure I would say street dogs prosper, but they are evolutionary successful

[pvaldes]

> but do you call living in a cage with your beak cut off "prospering"?

Better than die at ten days old by any of the dozen predators living in a rainforest, that is the destine of 90% of the wild chicken