For variation to exist, the larger variations of an animal (such as a lion) should not get rid of the smaller or "inferior" versions of the species. If all of the smaller lions were killed by the superior lions, and the bigger ones lived on, what would happen in a large famine? Would the big lions be able to get enough food to survive? The species would probably die out in that area, whereas they would have a better chance of surviving if the smaller lions were still around.
The reason I mention this is because I have heard people say that the way we live today does not allow for natural selection to take place, and that we are actually devolving. I do not believe this is true, based on the logic above. Our system of civilization allows for tons of variations. There are smart people, athletic people, tall short, light skinned, dark skinned, the list goes on and on. Because we have so much variation, I think that our species has a likelihood to survive almost any change in our environment.
I agree that we are very adaptable to our environment. We've almost strategically spread ourselves around the world so that if half the world was hit by disaster, the other half would survive. Although, being smart and spread out doesn't necessarily mean we could escape a monster virus for example since global transportation would ensure its mass effects.
ReplyDeleteI think our ability to survive no matter what change in the environment depends not on our diversity but on our immense organization stemming from human logic. And our logic itself seems to be an ever evolving trend. We have separated ourselves into countries, some better organized than other, but this organization is what helps people survive. A person without a country would not be able to do much in a natural disaster for example. As we are divided into countries when a certain area of the country experiences a change in environment as in the recent case of earthquakes in Italy, the framework of organization for that country, the government, steps in to help people adapt to the said change. This organization of human societies comes straight from the basics of human mindsets and is what seems to be the evolutionary trend that we as humans share unlike most animals.
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