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     In Prof. Grobstein's Thursday section, we briefly thought about what Darwin's theories would have to about phenomena such as women living long after their childbearing years. I have been thinking about this concept more generally, and I had one semi-spooky thought: is Natural Selection analagous to what scientists refer to as 'potential energy'? That is, can we reasonably believe that Natural Selection is some sort of looming power (not in the sense of a divine being) that reveals its 'desires' for the future evolution depending on what humans 'activate'?

     I think that the answer is YES, and I do not intend to personify Natural Selection, but I do find it very curious that Alzheimers, osteoporosis, and diseases that mostly affect the elderly didn't appear when the human life expectancy was maybe 30-40yrs of age. Such predicaments seem to have come into existence ONLY once humans better adapted and began to live longer. Perhaps this was/is a way to keep population dynamics in check?  The creepy part about this, though, is that with all of our modern technologies today, if we somehow figure out how to raise the life expectancy (among many possible ways we could change our lives) to 120yrs old...what kinds of things would Natural Selection (if applicable) have in store for us?