[lbo-talk] Bonobo you don't

Miles Jackson cqmv at pdx.edu
Tue May 1 08:36:13 PDT 2007


Wojtek Sokolowski wrote:
> As to whether James ignores evolutionary theory - he can certainly speak for
> himself, but I do not think that it is what he claims. He seems to argue
> that humans acquired ways to neutralize the effects of natural selection
> through social development and technology in the ways that animals could not
> - which is not the same as denying the existence of that selection.
No, it is impossible for us to "neutralize" the effects of natural selection, because that could only happen if (a) reproduction didn't occur and (b) there was no genetic diversity in the human species. Any changes to the environment that humans create simply become part of the environment that than "selects" for members of the species that are best adapted to that environment. This is true in most species (they shape their environment and the shaped environment than "selects" certain traits).

Example: imagine industrialization continues to replace human manual labor with machine power, and we get to the point that physical exertion is minimal. Evolution would select for traits that help humans adapt to this rarified environment (say, the developmental resources used to build bulky muscle would be used to enhance the senses or increase cognitive ability--whatever helps people survive and reproduce in that new hyperindustrialized environment). Note that this must be true for any environmental conditions; it's irrelevant whether the conditions are created by humans, bonobos, or God. --And it is certainly completely irrelevant whether the humans had a "mental picture" of the environmental changes they made!

Granted, this evolutionary process is slow, and as I have argued repeatedly on the list, there are many human characteristics that have nothing to do with evolution. However, if you understand the basic principles of evolutionary theory, it is abundantly clear that any environmental changes that humans generate cannot "nullify" or "neutralize" the process of evolution. At best, these environmental changes can influence the "random walk" of evolution for one or more species.

Miles



More information about the lbo-talk mailing list