More Is Never Enough 7This makes staying alive a never-ending test to determine winners
and losers. The winners are granted survival so they can continue
competing. The losers go extinct and are soon forgotten—a fate that
has befallen more than 99 percent of species that have ever roamed
the planet.
After four-plus billion years of genetic mutations, life on Earth has
become an almost unfathomable diversity of species, traits, and be-
haviors tailored to survival. Those species with the longest track rec-
ords are the smallest or microscopic ones. Yet even their proven ability
to adapt and populate has been held in check by other species.
Aphids, for example, are tiny, sap-sucking insects that naturally
clone themselves to produce other females. Drop a few aphids into a
vegetable patch and within days millions are present.^ Yet aphids have
not overrun the planet, because those seeking food are also food them-
selves. Ladybugs, those seemingly sweet polka-dotted insects, coevolved
alongside aphids, targeting them as their food source.
Other species evolved differently. Honeybees and flowers maintain
a symbiotic relationship that allows both to survive. Viruses and harm-
ful bacteria have adopted a more devious approach, attacking their
hosts, seizing control of cells and repelling antibodies. Some species
boost their chances of survival by providing food at the very start of
life. Many seeds, for example, contain the nutrients a new sprout needs
until it can convert the Sun’s rays into energy.
As humans, we have zero ability to populate as quickly as microscopic
organisms or convert energy like plants. Instead, we have evolved a
host of other traits: walking on two legs to move faster and to better
spot distant threats; opposable thumbs to help us climb, use tools,
and grip food; an instant dislike for bitter-tasting plants to protect
us from ingesting harmful toxins; a preference for sweets, meats, and
fats because they are dense with calories; and the ability to store excess
energy for when food is scarce. These traits, refined across thousands
of generations, are present at birth. They exist to secure food in an
insecure world. Yet are they enough?
If I’m standing alone in a game park in Africa in the dark of night,
my answer would be no. Human traits do not include a gazelle’s
lightning-fast reflexes and ability to run some forty miles per hour.