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Old 12-December-2007, 08:27 PM
Larry Jacks Larry Jacks is offline
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Join Date: Mar 2006
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Oh I see, you're using "evolution" to include all human advancement. The kind of evolution you're talking about really has nothing to do with biological evolution, which is what the article in the OP is talking about.

Not necessarily. Medical technology allows people to survive who might not have survived in the past. For example, a cesearian section allows some women to safely give birth who would probably have died in childbirth (and the baby, too) 100 years ago (my wife among them). Ordinary natural selection would've killed her and probably prevented her genes from being propagated. To me, that's a change in evolution.

One question would be that if we use our medical and technical knowledge to overcome genetic definciencies so that all of our bad genetic mutations survive to reproduce - do we effectively stop evolution? Perhaps better described as proliferation of the fit enough.

I don't know if that would stop evolution or actually increase it. Medical technology is allowing people to propagate genes that would've been wiped out in the past. It seems to me that's increasing genetic diversity but not always for the best.
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