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Rebecca Pisciotta's picture

Modern Evolution

I think this is a great point to raise. It seems clear that the rate, and possibly direction, of evolution have changed. And I think the finger can be pointed at technological advances. It is just like you said, more people that might have been wiped out by natural selection are surviving to pass their genetic code on into the gene pool. But I want to say a little more, and address the implications.

As was said in the other reply the traits relevant for selection in the past are no longer the relevant ones. Physical "shortcomings" do little to hold one back in society. We can imagine that farmer Joe with asthma had a hard, maybe impossibly hard, time providing necesities for his family. We can also imagine that after the introduction of irrigation systems, or inhalers he had a much easier time of it, and was able to send a son off to college. Or, Sam, who was doing fine before, but due to the added help of the irrigation system now has some free time on his hands. We can think of the effect technology has as creating a surplus of genes.

The gene pool is growing as a result of technology, and the reproductive efforts of those kept alive by it. But the gene pool is not getting weaker, it is developing a surplus. Not everyone is needed in the labor market to keep the society running, and some people are able to enter the technological sector. Any advance in the technological sector allows more effort to leave the labor sector, the surplus grows, more individuals and enter the cultural/technological sector, and around and around we go.

It is interesting to think about where all this is going. Will there be a breaking point, when the population gets too big to support itself? Or will we end up sitting on our butts in front of the tv, while robots make our dinner, clean our house, do our taxes, clean our streets, and grow our food, with the occasionally motivated individual getting up to create a robot to pick his nose for him?

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