On Friday, June 13, 2003, at 06:02  PM, Jens Wilkinson wrote:
> that accompany it. Speaking theoretically (I'm not a
> eugenicist at all) the human species is essentially in
> a position where it is difficult for evolutionary
> pressure to work on us.
>

Maybe just different things? I know a number of people my age who died
young, from alcohol related car accidents, possible cocaine induced
heart attacks, stupid things like that. The cats where I live look both
ways before crossing the street! I would never have believed it if I
didn't see it myself.

I think cars are the biggest evolutionary force acting on us today,
weeding out the belligerent, the space cadets, the speed freaks among
us.

A fairly large percentage of the population never breeds. In my family
among my great uncles for some reason a whole slew of them never
married. My Grandfather was in his late twenties before he found
someone who would put up with him, if he had gone the way of his many
brothers I wouldn't be here. Same thing happened in my generation, two
of my siblings don't look to have children. I wonder if shyness is
genetic? I was thirty before I much figured out how to deal with women,
some seem to be born knowing. May be our current society weeds out the
congenitally shy, who would have had arranged matches in the past?

Is this related to food? Really fat people may not tend to marry as
much as average types, and obese people often are infertile. Gross
drunkenness and many kinds of drug abuse also make it hard to find
someone to have children with.