3 ms·

A Brief History of the Brain

49 points by epenn 15y ago

viscanti 15y ago
This article hints at, but could do a better job of explaining why humans aren't currently capable of evolving, and why we as a species haven't been able to for thousands of years. Society acts as a buffer, disintermediating genetic advantage from reproductive advantage. Your genes might affect WHO you can reproduce with but not IF you will reproduce. The article implies that the only course is devolution, once we hit diminishing returns from an educational standpoint. It's equally plausible that we as a species could diverge on the lines of intelligence. Intelligent people are likely to self-select who they reproduce with based on similar intelligence levels. There's certainly a bias towards people moving to areas with other high densities of similar people, so the process is possible even if it's not done intentionally.
- forinti 15y ago
  What makes people so sure we don't? It is well known that young males have higher mortality rates from violence, suicide and road accidents. Wouldn't this pave the way for the population of stable young males to supersede their nervous friends?
  - viscanti 15y ago
    Geographical area is a stronger predictor of suicide than age or ethnicity, but statistically the numbers are really low (less than 15 suicides per 100,000 people). With the societal emphasis on psychological wellbeing (we're pumping kids full of drugs for some reason), we're less likely than ever before to see the effects of depression or violence manifest themselves in an inability to reproduce. Society can't do a perfect job of disintermediating genetics from reproduction, but it's pretty close. There are almost no guaranteed genetic trades that will keep someone from reproducing. It just doesn't happen on a meaningful enough scale, especially with regards to intelligence. At best, we'd see a slight downward trend in bad drivers over several thousand years, but with increased car safety and popularity of mass transit, that effect will be diminishing as time goes on.

49 points by epenn 15y ago

This article hints at, but could do a better job of explaining why humans aren't currently capable of evolving, and why we as a species haven't been able to for thousands of years. Society acts as a buffer, disintermediating genetic advantage from reproductive advantage. Your genes might affect WHO you can reproduce with but not IF you will reproduce. The article implies that the only course is devolution, once we hit diminishing returns from an educational standpoint. It's equally plausible that we as a species could diverge on the lines of intelligence. Intelligent people are likely to self-select who they reproduce with based on similar intelligence levels. There's certainly a bias towards people moving to areas with other high densities of similar people, so the process is possible even if it's not done intentionally.

forinti 15y ago
What makes people so sure we don't? It is well known that young males have higher mortality rates from violence, suicide and road accidents. Wouldn't this pave the way for the population of stable young males to supersede their nervous friends?
- viscanti 15y ago
  Geographical area is a stronger predictor of suicide than age or ethnicity, but statistically the numbers are really low (less than 15 suicides per 100,000 people). With the societal emphasis on psychological wellbeing (we're pumping kids full of drugs for some reason), we're less likely than ever before to see the effects of depression or violence manifest themselves in an inability to reproduce. Society can't do a perfect job of disintermediating genetics from reproduction, but it's pretty close. There are almost no guaranteed genetic trades that will keep someone from reproducing. It just doesn't happen on a meaningful enough scale, especially with regards to intelligence. At best, we'd see a slight downward trend in bad drivers over several thousand years, but with increased car safety and popularity of mass transit, that effect will be diminishing as time goes on.