modern medicine vs evolution

[hazetwostep]

i have been thinking a lot lately about how the universe is built on a principle of natural selection and survival of the fittest.

what effect does modern medicine, which essentially takes people who were "selected" to die and gives them chance to procreate and further spread "inferior" genetics, have on the evolutionary process of the human race? are we slowing and hindering our evolutionary steps?

science tells us about this natural law and at the same time is doing everything it can to defy it. what gives them the idea that it is alright to fight a law of the universe that is meant for our own advancement?

(i dont have a definite opinion on this topic, but i think it poses interesting topics for friendly discussion)

[WakingDream]

Well considering that the sustainable human population is well below 1 billion and we already have 6 shows what medicine and oil has done for us.

[hazetwostep]

could you expand a bit more? i take it with oil you are talking about petrol, no?

[realgood]

I believe what WalkingDream is referring to is the carrying capacity of the earth. The carrying capacity is the number of humans the earth can support living moderately with neccesary resources. Current estimates range from 7 to 100 billion while some as walkingdream have stated believe we have already far exceded the carrying capacity. When he refers to oil I believe he is referring to fossil fuels which have fueled modern agriculture modern medicine travel heating and living in climates we normally would not etc. Your initial question is quite interesting and has crossed my mind as well. I too wonder what role modern medicine has in our evolution as humans. It's a strange concept to think about when you look at our earth and how we are eventually going to overpopulate it unless we eventually expand to other planets and without modern medicine would this be neccesary ? I'd be interested in what others have to say on this subject matter. Cool question haze.

[meloncoly]

world population estimates:-

World population - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population)

estimated population by the year 3000?

[hazetwostep]

i wonder what aspects of the evolution of human anatomy or physiology are being slowed by the fact that we screw natural selection. let's think about this one...

from my brief research i found that globally heart disease is the leading cause of death. my assumption is that those with tiny genetic advantages relating to the fight against heart disease would eventually become prominent in the human gene pool.

i would bet that the human cardiovascular system would be at the top of the list for systems to benefit from evolution. our body might develop a chemical or WBC of some sort to help remove vessel obstructions/cholesterol buildup or to protect the heart/brain from thrombuses (loose clots floating in blood stream).

this is interesting... if we really became a darwinian society and truly let it be survival of the fittest, my mind can only imagine how amazing the human race could become in regards to intelligence, physical capability, etc. The gene pool would continue to be filtered of "impurities" and "lesser genes" and only "the most fit" would survive to procreate with "the most fit."

please understand that this is theoretically speaking and not my personal belief that the weak should die... haha.. thanks!

[meloncoly]

has anybody seen Gattaca with ethan hawke and jude law?

this thread made me thing of that film

superior dna

[hazetwostep]

that was a great movie... how i wish i had a craft that could travel near the speed of light! i would head to space and fly around for a handful of months near lightspeed so that when i came back to earth it would be thousands and thousands of years later and i could see humans evolved!!!