Why did man evolve an...........

[m_the0ry]

Again I have trouble wading through the rhetoric in your first paragraph, and I see little to refute or agree with. However there is a clear distinction between a scientific claims and a 'truth', and I was referring to the latter in my final sentence. A common truth like 'I have brown hair' is riddled with philosophical subjectivities. Science never makes claim to truths but rather facts about past observations, and theories that agree with these facts. You are confusing givens and facts with truths. A given is an assumption and is a staple of axiomatic thought process. 'Truth' is a manifold abstract concept defined by its context.

[mrick]

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Why did man evolve an appreciation for art and music?

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Music is part of Art.

Man creates and appreciates Art because it gives expression to Man's thoughts, fears, feelings, hopes, ideas, etc, about the world and Man's condition in it. As soon as Man got conscious of himself and the world, he engaged in non-trivial, non-direct, multi-meaningful expression.

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I just can't see how those abilities fit well with the whole "survival of the fittest" concept.

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The persons who are able to express aforementioned ideas have always been highly placed in the social ladder by the tribesmen. The history of Repression, Sublimation and Symbolism does not begin with Siegmund Freud.

Now, THERE'S an Austrian worth studying......