First Law: Survive

All living things have but one main goal: survival. All other goals are secondary. And all other goals are connected, however indirectly, to the first.

Living things must survive as individuals, and they must keep their species itself alive. They keep themselves alive, for what else is a living thing. They keep their species alive by bearing and nurturing more members to replace themselves. Two sides of the same coin.

The need to survive is not something taught to an individual. It is there from the instant of birth. The command to survive is not issued by a fellow member of any species, but by the species itself. The species builds in urges (like to eat, to sleep, to reproduce) and adds pleasurable rewards for having satisfied those urges.

The command to survive exists within an individual at the most basic, fundamental level. It is part of what an individual is, no matter what the species.

These ways just are. They are part of the inner workings of the living thing, deep down within. They work for the survival of the living thing itself and for the continuation of its kind.

The oak tree is not taught to scatter its acorns on the ground so that other oaks may grow.

The squirrel is not taught to scamper up the oak tree to escape that which would do it harm.

The grass is not taught to yield to a falling acorn, then straighten again toward the sun.

The male bluejay perched upon a branch of the oak is not taught to be of bright color to attract away predators from the female with her species-continuing eggs.

The human sitting in the shade of the oak is not taught to flinch at loud noises or find comfort in the familiar or feel the urges for food, sleep, sex.