Source: EconLog
by Richard B McKenzie
“I love elk, but I confess that I use elk mating to develop a larger point: that rational decision making happens in a setting — mating battles — Darwinians might not expect. If elk have evolved even limited rational capacity, contrary to what many Darwinians presume, why not expect lower-order species, such as voles and even ants, to exhibit limited rationality? If my evolutionary perspective is accepted, Darwinian theory needs a revision to accommodate economic thinking. Rational decision making, dictated by scarcity constraints, can (at least marginally) divert species from their Darwinian evolutionary paths.” (10/06/25)
https://www.econlib.org/library/columns/y2025/mckenziedarwinian.html