Scrameustache's Journal: Human evolution and the hubris of it's denial

I often hear people say that humans are no longer subject to natural selection.
They mention hospitals, cripples being taken care of, prenatal care, and they ignore the fact that two thirds of the people of this world have no access to these luxuries.

Not only is most of the population of the earth still dying young from malaria, tigers, hippos, and all manners of natural disasters, but we are reminded regularly that people in the industrial nations die everyday from man made predators. In 1830, William Huskisson ushered in a brave new world of everyday deadliness. I still see rail safety campaign posters, aimed at kids, in the 21st century.

Even medical science isn't saving people indiscriminatly of their genetic heritage. Most of the healing is left to the patient's body, and the treatment themselves work better on some and not as well on others: Survival of the easiest to treat.

Human evolution hasn't stopped: We aren't mighty enough to rise above natural selection.

We don't eliminate everything

[Marxist Hacker 42]

But there are certain natural selectors that we do eliminate- no matter how poor you are, you dress appropriately for the weather and climate, for instance. Instead of adapting to new food sources, we eliminate poisonous plants and animals and devote large swaths of land to growing our favorite foods instead. Most higher mammals join us in seeking shelter from violent storms, volcanos, earthquakes, and tsunami that would eliminate lower species, sometimes even causing extinction.

Do we have a whole new set of selectors to contend with? Of course- diseases such as you speak of are parasites. And parasites will ALWAYS evolve to attack successfull species, because that's where the food is.

Survival of the species can't be won entirely- there will always be a new species trying to knock you off the top of the food chain. But eliminating selectors that kill lower species helps immensely.

My dearest friend Scratchmustache

[Profane MuthaFucka]

I am so pleased to hear that you are alive and well. I want you to know that I haven't forgetten about you, and that I've missed you terribly. I am also very relieved to know that you've finally given up on your young Earth creationism. I enjoyed our long talks into the night about evolution and creationism, and though I will miss the cat and mouse game of trying to persuade you of the rightness of the scientific view, I am more gratified to know that you've accepted the scientific truth and the evidence. T