• Question: are we 'de-evolving' by helping people with life threatening diseases live? because survival of the fittest doesn't apply anymore.

    Asked by to Lilly on 18 Mar 2014. This question was also asked by .
    • Photo: Lilian Hunt

      Lilian Hunt answered on 18 Mar 2014:

      I would never say we are de-evolving as evolution isn’t directional. We aren’t evolving to reach a certain point so we can’t really go backwards in evolution. But you are right that because of improved healthcare, people are living that wouldn’t have used to live, but surely being able to keep more people alive through science and knowledge is our minds evolving? Survival of the fittest still applies but the definition of who is the fittest can constantly change. It could be the tallest or the smallest depending which country you are in.

      One thing that is happening though is what’s called ‘genetic load’ where we are keeping possible harmful mutations in the population to be passed on to future generations. These in the past wouldn’t have survived across generations and it can put a strain on our healthcare system so we have to make sure we can cope with this.

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