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Where does the selection pressure come from though? I have enough faith in our race that even if we have someone who is genetically less fit for mars we won't

by rawnlq 10y ago

Where does the selection pressure come from though? I have enough faith in our race that even if we have someone who is genetically less fit for mars we won't just let him die before he reaches a reproductive age. So will it be by their potential partners? It would be pretty funny if they end up developing martian dating apps that requires putting their DNA sequences online just like how height and race is currently required.

s_kilk 10y ago
> martian dating apps that requires putting their DNA sequences online Hmm, as long as the separate species are still physically compatible *cough, I don't see why that would be necessary, at least in the context of dating/hookups. For breeding? Sure.
LeifCarrotson 10y ago
> martian dating apps that requires putting their DNA sequences online This isn't how selection pressure works. And while you're correct that we won't let a human die, potential partners already do a sort of DNA analysis. While it's not as ruthless as in the wild, potential partners definitely evaluate each other based on criteria like fitness, appearance, and intelligence, which have genetic components. Consider that the Martian environment might make individuals who are genetically more susceptible to skin cancer likely to have facial scarring before reproductive age, or make lanky individuals more graceful in the low gravity, or make short people able to move through small hab units with less awkwardness. Or consider the potential effects of claustrophobia or a proclivity for motion sickness on life in space, or the demands on intelligence and resulting careers. These effects would cause some genotypes to be more attractive than others in a different way than they are on Earth where, for example, height is often considered attractive and is not penalized by short space hab ceilings. It's not that those lacking these traits would be prohibited from reproducing, but that they would have a bit of a challenge finding partners, while those possessing the traits would find it slightly easier. As a result of a few on the margin failing or succeeding in finding partners, those with the traits might have 2.55 children on average, and those without might have 2.53 children. Eventually, this pressure could shift the gene pool in a different direction than Earth.
- erispoe 10y ago
  > potential partners definitely evaluate each other based on criteria like fitness, appearance, and intelligence, which have genetic components To have sex, yes, but I'm not sure it translates in any meaningful in the number of surviving offsprings we have, therefore eliminating selection pressure at the human scale. We have removed a good chunk of selection pressure, and there's nothing wrong with that. Selection pressure, however, is still a very real phenomenon for the micro-biology inhabiting and interacting with our bodies.

by rawnlq 10y ago

s_kilk 10y ago

> martian dating apps that requires putting their DNA sequences online Hmm, as long as the separate species are still physically compatible *cough, I don't see why that would be necessary, at least in the context of dating/hookups. For breeding? Sure.

LeifCarrotson 10y ago

> martian dating apps that requires putting their DNA sequences online This isn't how selection pressure works. And while you're correct that we won't let a human die, potential partners already do a sort of DNA analysis. While it's not as ruthless as in the wild, potential partners definitely evaluate each other based on criteria like fitness, appearance, and intelligence, which have genetic components. Consider that the Martian environment might make individuals who are genetically more susceptible to skin cancer likely to have facial scarring before reproductive age, or make lanky individuals more graceful in the low gravity, or make short people able to move through small hab units with less awkwardness. Or consider the potential effects of claustrophobia or a proclivity for motion sickness on life in space, or the demands on intelligence and resulting careers. These effects would cause some genotypes to be more attractive than others in a different way than they are on Earth where, for example, height is often considered attractive and is not penalized by short space hab ceilings. It's not that those lacking these traits would be prohibited from reproducing, but that they would have a bit of a challenge finding partners, while those possessing the traits would find it slightly easier. As a result of a few on the margin failing or succeeding in finding partners, those with the traits might have 2.55 children on average, and those without might have 2.53 children. Eventually, this pressure could shift the gene pool in a different direction than Earth.

erispoe 10y ago
> potential partners definitely evaluate each other based on criteria like fitness, appearance, and intelligence, which have genetic components To have sex, yes, but I'm not sure it translates in any meaningful in the number of surviving offsprings we have, therefore eliminating selection pressure at the human scale. We have removed a good chunk of selection pressure, and there's nothing wrong with that. Selection pressure, however, is still a very real phenomenon for the micro-biology inhabiting and interacting with our bodies.