The term "fittest" is often associated with animals who are physically stronger or of more value than others, but being "fit" can also include an organism's ability to communicate well with others in its group, which can provide an evolutionary advantage. For example, more social animals can form alliances with each other and protect each others' young, so the whole population stays stronger in terms of number.
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It’s a point I’ve been making for a long time. The Great White shark in the ocean, the lion on the veldt and so on are not the ‘fittest’ organisms: the clown fish and the dung beetle are also prospering. There are many strategies for survival, and ‘fitness’ reduces to ‘ability to pass on genes’. (Incidentally, this is also the cure for the pernicious evils of ‘social Darwinism’ and eugenics: there is no way to sensibly determine which humans are fittest, let alone ethically.)
Termites and a whole range of other species use social cohesion to succeed and thrive, … and the termites on the veldt massively outnumber the lions!
It’s the cure to libertarianism, too: humans stand or fall together, not alone. We are social beings.
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