--- Eric Baum <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Matt> --- Hank Conn <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > >> On 12/1/06, Matt Mahoney <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > The "goals > >> of humanity", like all other species, was determined by > > >> evolution. > It is to propagate the species. > >> > >> > >> That's not the goal of humanity. That's the goal of the evolution > >> of humanity, which has been defunct for a while. > > Matt> We have slowed evolution through medical advances, birth control > Matt> and genetic engineering, but I don't think we have stopped it > Matt> completely yet. > > I don't know what reason there is to think we have slowed > evolution, rather than speeded it up. > > I would hazard to guess, for example, that since the discovery of > birth control, we have been selecting very rapidly for people who > choose to have more babies. In fact, I suspect this is one reason > why the US (which became rich before most of the rest of the world) > has a higher birth rate than Europe.
Yes, but actually most of the population increase in the U.S. is from immigration. Population is growing the fastest in the poorest countries, especially Africa. > Likewise, I expect medical advances in childbirth etc are selecting > very rapidly for multiple births (which once upon a time often killed > off mother and child.) I expect this, rather than or in addition to > the effects of fertility drugs, is the reason for the rise in > multiple births. The main effect of medical advances is to keep children alive who would otherwise have died from genetic weaknesses, allowing these weaknesses to be propagated. Genetic engineering has not yet had much effect on human evolution, as it has in agriculture. We have the technology to greatly speed up human evolution, but it is suppressed for ethical reasons. -- Matt Mahoney, [EMAIL PROTECTED] ----- This list is sponsored by AGIRI: http://www.agiri.org/email To unsubscribe or change your options, please go to: http://v2.listbox.com/member/?list_id=303
