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LOL I guess the good news with all these anti-vaxers killing themselves by taking drugs intended for cows is that they wont be int he gene pool any longer.
@Pat yes it should. If it isnt then evolution cant happen.
Natural selection can't be stopped no matter what. We are part of the environment. When we use interventions, like when we feed people who are starving, or take our pets to vet, we are just part of the environment in which evolution takes place. No matter what we do, natural selection will happen. It just happens within the context of the environment that we are a part of and that we and everything else continually effect.
@Pat We cant stop natural selection, but the choices we make will determine the direction natural selection takes.
The choices we make influence the environment which influences natural selection, but it is not absolutely determinative.
@Pat Its as determinitive as breeding is. I think anyone who has seen just how far we can take the breeding of plants, and very much so in radical new directions that match our wishes, would know that our own species is just as easily manipulated.
Of course, im not suggesting we should do it, at that point its little more than eugenics if we take full control, and that isnt ethical. But we do have a great deal of control over it, at least in theory.
My original comment here was just that we should have compassion for those who are not as fortunate as us, and do what we can to help others, even if effects the gene pool, because the gene pool is all a product of natural selection no matter what we do.
I'm sure eventually humans will mess around with their genes, eliminate genetic diseases, make their babies smarter or better looking or whatever. They're reluctant now because the abuses of eugenics are still recent history. But eventually humans will do that -- if we don't hit the singularity before then.
@Pat As a general principle I agrree with you. But I am also about bodily autonony even if that results in death, especially if that results in death. Because not only does it grant the person bodily autonomy, but it also enables stupid people to use that right to kill themselves by making bad choices and improving the gene pool.