Historians write that most such political and economic commentators had only a superficial understanding of Darwin's scientific theory, and were as strongly influenced by other concepts about social progress and evolution, such as the Lamarckian ideas of Spencer and Haeckel, as they were by Darwin's work.
Historici píšu, že títo politickí a ekonomickí komentátori mali iba povrchné znalosti Darwinovej vedeckej teórie a boli rovnako silno ovplyvnení inými koncepciami o sociálnom vývoji, ako boli napr. Lamarckiánske myšlienky Spencera a Haeckela.