[extropy-chat] RE: Re: Intelligent Design andIrriducible Complexity

[Kevin Freels]

> John K Clark wrote:
>
> >
> >There is a parallel in our own species, for millions of years a gene that
> >told us to eat as much sweet and fatty foods as we can get our hands on
> >worked great for survival, but today food is so plentiful people become
fat
> >and get heart attacks. We know it’s bad for us but it just tastes so damn
> >good.
> >
> >
> >
> But this behavior has little evolutionary effect. Most consequences of
> consumption of fatty
> and sweet foods occur after the age of reproduction, and is therefore
> not directly selected
> against. The effects on the next generation are mixed: Granddad has a
> heart attack. Dad gets
> his inheritance in time to actually improve Kid's life during the
> formative years. Or, the
> inheritance is smaller because Granddad kicked the bucket before
> retiring. Or, the inheritance
> is bigger because the old geezer lived well into retirement and spent
> the money on himself.
>
It is difficult to use humans as an example since medical science does an
end run around natural selection. Infant mortality in the US is extremely
low. Children who would have died 100 years ago in the young years through
impaired immune systems now live to pass those genes on to their children.
It's all fine as long as we can maintain a sanitary environment.

Natural selection works in some strange ways. One only has to look at
Tay-Sachs in Askenazi Jews or Sickel Cell in African populations to see
that. Hypertension in AMeriocan blacks may well be attributed to a gene(s)
that help the body to retain salt. Many slaves died on the ships on the way
to the US and those that survived may have been able to retain salt better
in their bodies or have less need for it. The few survivors would have been
more prone to hypertension because of it.

John's parallel, although not the best example, is still a good one. It's
not something likely to lead to our extinction and I don;t think he meant it
that way. It is a holdover from our ancestry when that behavior was
necessary at the time, but now hurts us. Grandparents have nothing to do
with it. Since people only needed to live to 30 or so years, they could eat
all they wanted when available. This ensured they wouldn't starve when times
were tough. Those that could store more food would live through famine times
better. Only now does it present a problem as we expect to live longer
lives.