Sunday, December 26, 2010

Evolutionary theory and eugenics

Evolution through natural selection actually indicates that eugenics or a dog-eat-dog, survivor-take-all mentality is maladaptive. Natural selection is actually about probabilities for reproductive opportunities and not about annihilating "the weak." Any attempt at eugenics is almost certainly be doomed to fail in the long term. There are numerous factors that influence adaptability, health, and success in perpetuating the species. Such a narrow approach as specified by any eugenics plan would likely result in also selecting for weaknesses that are artifacts or covariates with the specifically selected traits.

It is precisely the situation that occurs with naturally selected field crops and animals. The result are organisms that have a few overdeveloped traits but that are often vulnerable in disconcerting ways. Viruses, bacteria, and parasites often then able to evolve to exploit those weaknesses with devastating results. Without consistent outside help in the form of antibiotics and other human created countermeasures, these very narrow strains would become extinct or be incorporated into the naturally occurring collection of genes in a relatively short amount of time. Diversity is actually very adaptive and necessary for a species to have a pool of genotypes from which to select when stressed by the environment.


There is actually substantial evidence that altruism is adaptive and is likely to be selected for over the course of many generations, which is a topic for another time. 

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