Brent Meeker wrote: > The top level goal implied by evolution would be to have as many > children as you can raise through puberty. Avoiding death should > only be a subgoal.
It should go a little further than puberty--the accumulated wisdom of grandparents may significantly enhance the survival chances of their grandchildren, more so than the decrease in available resources in the environment they might consume. So I agree that once you have sired all the children you ever will, it makes sense from an evolutionary perspective to "get out of the way"--that is, stop competing with them for resources. But the timing of your exit is probably more optimal somewhat after they have their own children, if you can help them to get a good start. I do wonder if evolutionary fitness is more accurately measured by the number of grandchildren one has than by the number of children. Aside from the "assistance" line of reasoning above, in order to propagate, one must be able to have children that are capable of having children themselves. Johnathan Corgan --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To post to this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
