4 ms·

I think part of it might be that evolution only cares about how successful you are in passing on your genes. Why do salmon die after mating (its due to exhausti

by jwegan 16y ago

I think part of it might be that evolution only cares about how successful you are in passing on your genes. Why do salmon die after mating (its due to exhaustion)? There isn't really any reason they have too, but they successfully passed on there genes so there is little evolutionary pressure on what happens afterward. I think it is the same for aging. There isn't really a reason for aging, it just happens because there is less evolutionary pressure once humans pass the age when they normally procreate. Of course I don't have any qualifications and this is just my hypothesis so take it as you will.

FlorinAndrei 16y ago
IIRC, either Kurzweil or de Grey said exactly the same thing.
v3rt 16y ago
I believe the predominant evolutionary theory actually does have an explanation - sexual reproduction serves to produce offspring that are different from their parents and have a better shot of being adapted to a constantly changing environment on average (particularly relevant to parasites/diseases). These children still carry their parents' genes, though, so it is in the parents' best genetic interests to die once the kids are self-sufficient so as to avoid out-competing their own offspring.
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
- asdflkj 16y ago
  W.R.T. humans, the predominant evolutionary theory does have an explanation, and it's exactly what jwegan said. Your scenario is only relevant to organisms who live in niches very far from our own. Humans have always lived in ecosystems large enough that our kids' share of the burden of our claims on resources is infinitesimal, and certainly no comparison to benefit that kids derive from their alive parents.
tansey 16y ago
The reason for sticking around after mating is to protect your children. In this sense, there is definitely an evolutionary pressure to live longer. The longer an organism takes to mature, the more advanced it can become. Consequently, the longer you live as a mature individual, the longer you can mate to produce more children and protect the ones you already produced.

by jwegan 16y ago

FlorinAndrei 16y ago

IIRC, either Kurzweil or de Grey said exactly the same thing.

v3rt 16y ago

I believe the predominant evolutionary theory actually does have an explanation - sexual reproduction serves to produce offspring that are different from their parents and have a better shot of being adapted to a constantly changing environment on average (particularly relevant to parasites/diseases). These children still carry their parents' genes, though, so it is in the parents' best genetic interests to die once the kids are self-sufficient so as to avoid out-competing their own offspring.

deleted 16y ago
[deleted]
asdflkj 16y ago
W.R.T. humans, the predominant evolutionary theory does have an explanation, and it's exactly what jwegan said. Your scenario is only relevant to organisms who live in niches very far from our own. Humans have always lived in ecosystems large enough that our kids' share of the burden of our claims on resources is infinitesimal, and certainly no comparison to benefit that kids derive from their alive parents.

tansey 16y ago

The reason for sticking around after mating is to protect your children. In this sense, there is definitely an evolutionary pressure to live longer. The longer an organism takes to mature, the more advanced it can become. Consequently, the longer you live as a mature individual, the longer you can mate to produce more children and protect the ones you already produced.