Monday, April 4, 2011

healthcare vs evolution

Healthcare interferes with evolution by natural selection. In fact, I don't think we have any kind of selection in developed countries, I think we've entered some sort of genetic drift, so people with beneficial mutations aren't favoured in the detriment of those with harmful mutations.

Healthcare gives the chance to people with harmful mutations to live and have children of their own, thus transmitting their harmful genes to the next generation (50% chance per child).

There are far more harmful mutations than beneficial mutations, so the general state of health of the population should decline more and more after each generation, because harmful mutations accumulate.

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against healthcare. I believe it's great that we have it but we need to be reasonable. We should not let people with genetic diseases have children just like that. It's irresponsible not only towards their children but towards the entire human species. We should only let them have children if we insure that their harmful mutations don't get passed on, by in vitro fertilization and checking their genes.

I once read an article about blind parents who had blind children. Their disease was genetic and it was passed on. I don't know about you, but I believe they should not have the right to do that.

I don't want natural selection to be back, I think that artificial selection is the only reasonable option we have, no selection is much worse than both, which is what we have now.

Spartans used to kill babies who were considered "puny or deformed". They had the right idea for their purpose, which was to have healthy and powerful soldiers. I don't believe there is any need for such inhumanity nowadays in order to have healthy, powerful, intelligent children or whatever trait we consider important.

Genetics is pretty advanced and we should take advantage of it in order to evolve in the desired direction. I believe that our aim should be health and intelligence in future generations.

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