Baba Brinkman - Group Selection lyrics

"Sure, I could get up at dawn, go to a job
I hate that does not
Inspire me creatively whatsoever
Or I could get up at noon and learn
How to play the sitar" Bill Hicks

Survival of the fittest is
Such a bleak vision
Are we really just a freakish
Collision of selfish genes
Selfishly promoting their own
Individual interests? Well, maybe
But sometimes those interests are collective
Still, "survival of the fittest" is
A phrase easily twisted
By anybody out to justify
The meager existence
That some people live with it's
A phrase often enlisted
By parasites eager to benefit
From these differences


In the nineteenth century it
Was aristocratic eugenicists
In the twentieth century, genocidal menaces
Used "survival of the fittest" to
Justify their death sentences
And gangsters still use it today
To degrade their victims
Not to mention the purveyors
Of disaster capitalism
These are all examples of "Social Darwinism"
But none of this is
Based on scientific evidence
Merely showing that something exists in
A state of nature
Doesn't give it a moral basis
That's a false correlation
Competition can sometimes increase motivation
But evolution is also driven by cooperation
Just ask the dictyostelium nation
Bacteria combined into eukaryotic cells
And became the organelles within
Their symbiotic shells
And we have fifty trillion of
Those in our individual selves
So we're like physical spaces
Where creative collectives dwell
And this applies to the societies
We erect as well
'Cause survival of the fittest
Also applies to groups
And the fittest group makes
The best combined moves
So, can't we all just get along
Whatever we try and do?
Where's the altruism? Where's the
Love? Where's the altruism?
All these vultures talkin' 'bout
Survival of the fittest
But the atruism y'all, come on
Where's the altruism?
We need to get together on a common vision!

Group selection just puts me
In an altruistic mood
Like: yeah, love thy neighbour! What's that?
You need some sugar? Okay, come by later!
Of course I'll do you favour why's that?
'Cause, I've got the compassion
Of a vampire bat
If you need some food, I'll do what I can
So what if we're not related
You're still my man
You're still my sister I feel high, man!
This universal love is good stuff, god damn!
And you don't have to reciprocate either
Because karma is a sophisticated teacher
Karma isn't just energy waves in the ether!
No, karma's in the way
Everyone hates a cheater
Cheater detection will keep you in check when
You jump cues and refuse
To treat people respectfully
So go ahead, take what you want, run me down
'Cause, I believe what goes
Around comes around
Liars and thieves and those
Who try to deceive get dealt with by the
Immune systems of society
And survival of the fittest? Don't
Let it baffle you
Because fitness isn't "fitness", no
It's aptitude
Between the environment and whatever's
Adapted to it
And in social animals like humans
Aptitude is attitude
And my attitude is there's
Nothing we can't do as a human family group
As long as we have rules
To keep the cheaters in check
I figure we can't lose
We can go to the moon and back this afternoon
As long as what's bad for me
Is also bad for you
So let's just all get together
And have some food
And put an end to this endless
Feud – is that cool?
Where's the altruism? Where's the
Love? Where's the altruism?
All these vultures talkin' 'bout
Survival of the fittest
But the atruism y'all, come on
Where's the altruism?
We need to get together on a common vision!

"And if we evolve the idea, you see
The planet might be more compassionate
And something like heaven might
Dawn" Bill Hicks