The 'biological imperative' - Is it manifested in science, too?

The “biological imperative” can be construed as the need of all living organisms to propagate and, if possible, to perpetuate their genes. It could be used to explain behavior in regard to mating, competition, alliances, territory…, and even crime.

To propagate its genes, an organism has to have offspring — as many as possible. To perpetuate its genes, its descendants also have to have offspring — again, as many as possible. Let’s see how we, humans, (try to) accomplish this.

To have offspring, a man has to find a receptive female (and vice versa). Now, what are the attributes that make a man attractive to women (and a woman attractive to men)?

First, there are the physical and mental attributes, for example, health (you do not want to have sick children), attractiveness (you want your children to be able to compete for mates), and intelligence (you want your children to succeed in this world that is relying more and more on intellectual ability).

Then, there is proven success, for example, wealth (freedom from want increases the chances of survival), power (the ability to command help from others is a big plus when facing competition), and fame (this facilitates the recruitment of assistance from others).

And then, there is the appearance of success, for example, boastfulness (publicizing a triumph, no matter how small, might attract a few mates), fakery (lying about successes might attract unsuspecting partners), reflected glory (having a famous relative, or friend, might be interpreted as evidence of one’s own potential for success), among others.

Note that “relative” success is often enough. One needs only to be better than the local competition (the proverbial “big fish in a small pond”).

What do we do to be better (or to appear better) than the competition? We kill off the competition! (Without competition, we are the best by default.) We steal! (We appropriate our competitors’ goods, even their ideas, so that their success becomes ours.) We cheat! (We make the competition look bad to make ourselves look better than them — better than we really are.) We do many other things, blatant and subtle, to get ahead of the competition. 

And to help us fight off the competition, we form alliances. Some alliances are natural, for example, with our blood relatives, some of whose genes will also be present in our offspring. Some alliances are political and could facilitate the propagation of our genes, as well as those of our allies.

But what has the “biological imperative” got to do with science?

Ahh, in science there could be fame and fortune. Good scientific work usually leads to recognition, awards, and other accolades, and those lead to good positions, good salaries, a following, and other niceties of life. A good idea could lead to a patent, a profitable business venture, and wealth. Moreover, success in science is usually considered a manifestation of intelligence. Success in science, therefore, is another means of fulfilling the “biological imperative.”

So, what do scientists do to (try to) gain success? The usual way is by hard and honest work. However, some scientists cheat, or steal, to gain advantage, and try various tactics to put other scientists down. Belittling the work of others is a common practice. Making it difficult for the competition to publish their papers, or to obtain grants, is another (for example, when acting as referee of the competitors’ publications or grant proposals, by making unreasonable comments and criticisms). And scientists form alliances, too.

Obviously, the “biological imperative” dictates many of our actions in our everyday lives, as well as in science. Fortunately, there are laws (also religion) to lead us away from such base, albeit natural, instincts.

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Eduardo A. Padlan is an adjunct professor at the Marine Science Institute, UP Diliman and is a corresponding member of the NAST. He can be reached at [email protected].