Humans have made such great strides since our origin some 200,000 years ago. We have survived all manner of obstacles when all our fellow species did not whether as a consequence of direct competition with Homo sapiens or otherwise. Humans have learned to control nature. We grow crops, influence genetic diversity, contain rivers, irrigate deserts, and build power-generating dams, nuclear reactors, and coal-burning hydroelectricity stations. We can heal the sick, educate the young, pray to our varied gods, fly into outer space, and eat genetically modified corn or rice grown in the desert. We can talk to our loved ones halfway around the world, send text messages and e-mails through the ether, watch the news as it happens, and listen to the symphony. We create beautiful gardens, sculpt, paint, write poetry, create music, enjoy movies, and experience wonderful meals. We can talk, sing, dance, run, cycle, swim, and fly. We develop businesses to help us achieve and consume anything our heart desires. There is little that we cannot do.

This modern society we have created has been profoundly influenced by Charles Darwin’s (1809–82) theory of “natural selection,” with its associated concepts of “competition” and “survival of the fittest,” and by Adam Smith’s (1723–90) theory of “the invisible hand.” Darwin’s and Smith’s impacts have been biblical in proportion; their ideas pervade every aspect of our modern lives. It is through competition that the strongest survive, breed, and procreate. Self-interest and unfettered competition form the basis of the free-market system, which, according to Adam Smith, must be left free of interference, moderated only by the “invisible hand,” which dictates that consumers buy and producers sell in order to increase the general economic well-being of everyone and generate the most effective and efficient use of a nation’s resources. The market freely decides what is best for society and, in turn, society reaps the greatest reward. In theory, the result is a society composed of increasingly stronger, healthier individuals and businesses.