Un-natural Selection

Well, another season of Survivor ended last night and, as usual I was frustrated. Survivor was the first reality show I ever watched. Most of the others I occasionally tune in and out of and have never viewed any of them for more than a season. But I keep coming back to Survivor.

I think I like the show because it is so REAL. If they don't make fire they are cold, can't cook and have no drinking water. If they don't build shelter they, again, are cold or wet. If they don't fish, they don't eat. If they aren't dry, fed and rested they lose the challenges. So it comes down to the simple basics of life to survive. It doesn't get any more real than that.

Then there is the psychological aspect of the game that completely fascinates me. The people are like living chess pieces. Some being clueless pawns and others are master manipulators. They often pose as one thing and are, indeed, only working their co-players. Some of the people are completely honest and genuine and others have split tongues and hooves for feet. All of which is fun to watch.

But the part that frustrates me , despite the weekly glimpse into the lives and strategies of these people, and the vicarious nature of the experiment (game), is the certainty that many of the decisions made by the survivors are the exact opposite from those that would be made in real life. At some point the show's analogy to life breaks down.

This is when I begin calling the game Survival of the Unfittest. This part can become evident very early each season or is sometimes delayed (depending upon how crafty the group is), but always happens. Eventually a group, or alliance, of players perceive the most skilled, the strongest, the hardest worker as a threat to be voted off the island. In the real world this person would be called the leader.

Now I realize that if you can't Outplay someone, your only hope may be to Outwit or just, simply, Outlast them. But the principles of survival of the fittest, natural selection and being rewarded for having a work ethic just fly out the window on the island. And we end up seeing smug, lazy groups of survivors control the game through strategy and numbers (of votes) while the hard workers fail for the reasons that should make them successful anywhere else.

Wait a second. As I was writing this, it had a familiar ring to it. "Lazy groups of (people) who control... through strategy and numbers (of votes) while the hard workers fail for the reasons that should make them successful..."

What are Labor Unions, Alex?

That is correct! - for $200.