Re:Everything You Know About Fitness is a Lie
by hackinthebochs on Saturday March 05, 2011 @01:11PM
(#2291941)
Sure it does, in the sense that there are fewer selective pressures on us, and those pressures are weaker. Our intelligence is able to overcome many of the pressures our environment exerts on us.
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Re:Everything You Know About Fitness is a Lie
by jshen on Thursday March 10, 2011 @10:39AM
(#2309450)
I'm highly skeptical that there are fewer selective pressures. One example, aren't industrial countries having fewer and fewer kids?
Re:Everything You Know About Fitness is a Lie
by hackinthebochs on Thursday March 10, 2011 @01:23PM
(#2310092)
Just to clarify, When I say "us" I mean the western world. True, industrial countries are having fewer kids, and thats an example of a new selective pressure. It's a result of a new environment we've created for ourselves. I'm sure there are many to go along with that. But the sheer number of (potential) selective pressures we've removed through technology doesn't compare: many diseases, muscle size, brain size, vitamin D synthesis (its put in everything now), body hair, skeletal structure, the list goes on. Our interaction with our environment is on such a fundamentally different level that there are many classes of environmental pressures that simply don't affect us anymore.
Think of it this way: we used to be directly reliant our the environment for survival, like animals are. But now, we process our environment to such an extent that small variations in it are overcome by our intellect. Those variations in the past would constantly be exerting selective pressure on us in many different directions. Those pressures are processed out now.