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To what Extent are Humans in a technological society exempt from natural selection? Explain why or why not.



Is te concept of natural selectiong relevant in a political or economic context? In other words, if a particular nation or corporation achieves success or dominance, does this mean that it is more fit that its competitors and that unregulated dominance is justified? Why or why not?

2007-03-20 06:36:24 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics Biology

5 answers

Look. Selection can occur any time a gene can change your ability to produce offspring. As long as people still die and as long as people still reproduce, unless they do it all identically then it's a pretty sure bet that as least SOME selection is going on.

Technology does have the potential to shield people from some dangers, but it also has a tendancy to open up new possibilities for selection as well.

A thousand years ago, a person who was genetically prone to carpal tunnel syndrome might not have been at any kind of disadvantage. Now, he'll have trouble holding a job that requires a lot of computer use (quite a few of them!). A thousand years ago, it was probably irrelevant if a person could see well in light that was heavy in the violet end of the spectrum. Now, with fluorescent lights that do just that, such an ability could save someone's life.

Which is precisely the point. Just because we don't have to worry about staying warm as much, it doesn't mean we don't have to worry about anything! Some people live healthier and produce more children than others... this will probably always be the case. The only thing that has changed is the qualifications for that success.

Whether natural selection applies to fields other than genetics is a matter for debate. It is generally very poor science to borrow ideas whole-cloth from other fields and apply them without a lot of modification. So I would suggest that if there is a type of sociological 'natural selection', it would probably be far better to call it something entirely different, lest even scientists accidentally draw unwarranted conclusions and comparisons between the two.

2007-03-20 06:56:36 · answer #1 · answered by Doctor Why 7 · 0 0

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2016-09-05 09:32:49 · answer #2 · answered by ? 4 · 0 0

"To what Extent are Humans in a technological society exempt from natural selection? Explain why or why not"

In Origin of Species, Darwin describes natural selection as being things other than the selection under domesticity mankind used on farm animals.

Under Darwin's definition, humans are not naturally selected, but selected under domesticity because people select who they breed with, when, and how.

2007-03-20 08:10:46 · answer #3 · answered by LabGrrl 7 · 0 0

I would say they are not any more or less exempt from natural selection then before. Having technology does not mean you are going to beat the laws of the natural world. The Natural world, and the laws that govern the natural world and natural selection will still prevail in the end..

Ultimately the end will be when we're so full of ourselves, and so self reliant upon technology that we (and technology) will fail..

2007-03-20 06:46:55 · answer #4 · answered by m34tba11 5 · 0 0

Humans have been mostly exempt from the natural selection process since there were laws/enforcement concerning the killing of humans by other humans.
Now with big medicine in charge, the babies formerly too weak to live are surviving, and with the socialistic new world order, the weak/underintelligent are allowed to survive.

2007-03-20 06:40:59 · answer #5 · answered by credo quia est absurdum 7 · 0 2

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