# Natural Selection Rewards Survival in Context by Keith Devlin > “Human being have evolved to behave rationally in a given context ‹ to follow the logic of the context. Following the survival logic of the given context is how natural selection works. We cannot change the logic in a context any more than we can change the mathematical fact that 1 + 1 = 2. In the case of terrorism, what we can change is the context. Doing so will inevitably require enormous wisdom, knowledge, and resources. Maybe this is where the true future greatness lies for the most powerful nation on Earth.” > **— Keith Devlin**, *2001, Edge Annual Question, “What Now?”* ## Sources and Context - **Direct Edge response and surrounding essay:** [Senior Researcher at Stanford University](https://www.edge.org/response-detail/11703) — Edge published this exact passage in its 2001 Annual Question collection, *WHAT NOW?*. The response page preserves the surrounding argument and qualifications. - **Complete local collection index:** [[research/Edge 2001 Full Quotation Curation - What Now|Edge 2001 Full Quotation Curation - What Now]] — retained source-first record for the complete response cohort and this passage's promotion status. ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/Edge|Edge]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]] - **Article:** [[articles/The Evolutionary Roots of Silicon Valley|Valley Roots]] - **Article:** [[articles/Digital Darwinism and the Invisible World of Machine Evolution|Digital Darwinism]] - **Article:** [[articles/We Were Never Going to Make It|Never Going to Make It!]] - **Wiki map:** [[wiki/Evolutionary Biology|Evolutionary Biology]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/Evolutionary Biology|Evolutionary Biology]] - [[wiki/Natural Selection|Natural Selection]] - [[wiki/Unit of Selection|Unit of Selection]] - [[wiki/Selection Gradient|Selection Gradient]] ## Share on Social Media ``` “Human being have evolved to behave rationally in a given context ‹ to follow the logic of the context. Following the survival logic of the given context is how natural selection works. We cannot change the logic in a context any more than we can change the mathematical fact that 1 + 1 = 2. In the case of terrorism, what we can change is the context. Doing so will inevitably require enormous wisdom, knowledge, and resources. Maybe this is where the true future greatness lies for the most powerful nation on Earth.” — Keith Devlin, 2001, Edge Annual Question, “What Now?” https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-keith-devlin-natural-selection-rewards-survival-context ```