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Species also evolve in response to environmental stimuli. Nowadays anyone of any relatively normal genetic disposition can reproduce almost as much as they want
by zanny 9y ago
Species also evolve in response to environmental stimuli. Nowadays anyone of any relatively normal genetic disposition can reproduce almost as much as they want. There is no selection bias in our children on a structural level - the beautiful smart people aren't having dramatically more babies. If anything, we are culturally selecting for poverty since the poorer you are the more children you have on average. Poverty itself is not a genetic trait, but the negative traits that can lead one into poverty are obviously going to be much more abundant.
- pbhjpbhj 9y agoThe "negative" traits that lead to poverty in our Western Democracies might arguably include such things as empathy, charity, and a preference for cooperation instead of conflict. Selecting for people who "win" at Western capitalism seems likely to usher in a much worse distopia. I go for dumber people helping each other to live happy, fulfilled lives over intelligent super people destroying one another so they can control the most resources.
- zanny 9y agoAbsolutely true. I was concerned more with traits that can drive people from fiscal stability to poverty, like an addictive personality, how gullible they are, etc. The problem though is that happy dumb people will have an even harder time competing for scarce resources against genetically engineered unemphatic super geniuses than they do against the current crop of sociopaths that run the global economy.