Fragility and the Development of Humanity

One of the key contributors to the development of the theory of plate tectonics in the 1950s should have a good grasp on the concept of fragility. In working for years on the idea that these so solid and seemingly unbreakable plates of crust on which we live are, in fact, a series of brittle puzzle pieces floating on top of a plastic aesthenophere and constantly in peril of crashing a breaking and whatnot, he also developed a philosophy on the importance of fragility in the natural world at all levels. He's argued that, similar to the way a brittle crust is a requirement for life on Earth as we know it to be, so too is fragility in all aspects of nature a benefit, rather than a detriment. It's fragility, he argues, that instigates change and growth and is, in fact, essential to development.

He applies this at the geologic level, but also points out that it occurs at the biological level, perhaps most poignantly. Though one might believe that the weaker, smaller, oldest, youngest, or otherwise impaired individuals of a pack might be left behind, cast away as the weakest link, reality shows the opposite. Social animals -and even those that we don't immediately regard as social- put the most fragile of their family at the center of their community. The weak and small get special protection, special attention. This can be seen in elephants, lemurs, wolves, lions, gorillas and monkeys. Paleontological findings even show that groups of early Neanderthals took special care of those that were born deformed or had been injured, and that this nomadic species even carried incapacitated individuals with them, rather than leave them behind.

Fragility, he claims, is the key to the development of reverence, of compassion. Humans often prize the breakable and care for the delicate, when there would, on the surface, appear to be no real advantage to doing so. It would seem that, to be Spartan about it, we would prize the durable and reliable and leave behind all who are unable to keep up. Instead, we arrange our societies around the preservation of those who cannot provide for themselves (children, the elderly, the sick) and value that which could so easily be destroyed.

Rather than being a weakness, such behavior could be seen as an evolutionary trait among us social animals. Much the same way altruism can pay off in the long run, the encounter of the fragile and the consequential move to preserve it is a prime way to foster empathy and compassion -both of which are advantageous traits to posses in a social community. The encounter of the fragile gives us the chance to practice a skill that many argue makes us so human.