"Daytime Lullaby" By Verlyn Klinkenborg http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/19/opinion/19sun4.html
We- due to our brains- are not domesticated animals- though some might argue that opinion- rightfully so.//Our upright posture also causes hemmorhoids (sp?), so I've been told. Birthing is often done now in a more reasonable position for women.// True, we are vulnerable when asleep but perhaps more vulnerable when sleep deprived as well as those who depend on us- pilots, train engineers, etc.//Having a newborn and active toddler is probably the ultimate test of survival for the mother. Bettered only by a husband who expects a wife playing Mozart as he returns home to his four course perfect dinner, great sex, etc. On Jul 14, 12:35 pm, retiredjim34 <[email protected]> wrote: > As I understand one basic premise of the theory of evolution, > survival of the fittest prefers individuals that live longer, breed > faster and leave more progeny. Yet two traits we possess – sleep and > intelligence – seem to contradict this preference. > Sleep works against survival for, while sleeping, an individual can > hardly defend against attack and consumption. So evolution would seem > to have selected those individuals needing less and less sleep, until > sleep would no longer be needed. Yet today, maybe one billion years > after speciation began, we still need our 8 hours of sleep. > Intelligence also seems to disprove the all-encompassing scope of > evolution. Those individuals better able to recall experience and > predict the future would have an advantage in food-gathering, mate > selection and progeny protection. Yet we hardly seem smarter today > than humans living thousands of years ago. > Are these traits exceptions to evolution? Are there other exceptions? > I expect so. But no one discusses them. Why not? --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""Minds Eye"" 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/Minds-Eye?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
