Friday, December 14, 2007

Sex Selection and Evolution

From an interview in Wired Science regarding the new PNAS paper on the rate of evolution:

"Asked about James Watson's controversial claims that intelligence evolved less effectively in people of African descent, Harpending said the study wasn't designed to test such characteristics. He also cautioned against interpreting the findings as suggesting that people are becoming fundamentally better...

"Evolution is a double-edged sword," he said. "What evolution cares about is that I have more offspring. If you can do it by charming and manipulating, and I'm a hardworking farmer that's going to feed the kids ten years down the road, then you're going to win. Hit-and-run, irresponsible males are reproducing more. That isn't good for anyone except those males, but that's evolution."

Stoopid farmer. Doesn't he know that women are never wrong about their mate selection?

No comments: