

A Brief History of the Brain - epenn
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21128311.800-a-brief-history-of-the-brain.html

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viscanti
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.

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forinti
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?

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viscanti
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.

