# Reproduction Drives Evolutionary Selection by David M. Buss > “Despite the fact that many equate evolution with survival selection, survival is only important inasmuch as it contributes to successful mating. Differential reproductive success, not differential survival success, is the engine of evolution by selection.” > **— David M. Buss**, *2013 Edge Annual Question, response passage* ## Sources and Context - **Direct publication and locator:** [The Mating Wars — David M. Buss](https://www.edge.org/response-detail/23862) — 2013 Annual Question response, contiguous sentence(s) within the representative extract. - **Exact original excerpt:** “Despite the fact that many equate evolution with survival selection, survival is only important inasmuch as it contributes to successful mating. Differential reproductive success, not differential survival success, is the engine of evolution by selection. You can survive to old age. But if you fail to mate, you fail to reproduce, and your genes bite the evolutionary dust. We are all descendants of a ruthless selective process of competition for the most valuable mates—those who can give our children good genes and an array of resources ranging from food and shelter to the social skills needed to scramble up the status hierarchy.” - **Context and editing:** The two contiguous sentences state Buss’s evolutionary framing; the wider essay applies it to mate competition and conflict. No editorial words were inserted. - **Local Edge archive:** [[research/Edge 2013 Full Quotation Curation|Edge 2013 Full Quotation Curation]], response EDGE2013-015. ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/Edge|Edge]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]] - **Article:** [[articles/The Evolutionary Roots of Silicon Valley|The Evolutionary Roots of Silicon Valley]] - **Article:** [[articles/Digital Darwinism and the Invisible World of Machine Evolution|Digital Darwinism and the Invisible World of Machine Evolution]] - **Wiki map:** [[wiki/Evolutionary Biology|Evolutionary Biology]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/Evolutionary Biology|Evolutionary Biology]] ## Share on Social Media ``` “Despite the fact that many equate evolution with survival selection, survival is only important inasmuch as it contributes to successful mating. Differential reproductive success, not differential survival success, is the engine of evolution by selection.” — David M. Buss, 2013 Edge Annual Question, response passage https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-david-buss-reproduction-drives-evolutionary-selection ```