Brain Training to Evolution?

[westwalker]

I was just wondering about evolution. Specifically how animals over millions of years of adapting to their enviroment, their bodies change to suit their needs. Would you say that that long term physical change starts out in one lifetime of a creature fundimentaly through brain training? eg, A man who trains and works for years in a repetative job, like, welding panels or digging holes etc.

 

 

[Moontanman]

It's more like the guy who welds has more kids than the guy who cannot (for what ever reason) if his ability to weld is somehow genetic then those traits will be passed down to all his little welders who will do well and have children too so you end up with the guy who cannot weld not having children who are as successful at supporting and having more kids as the welder guy.

[lemur]

Maybe welders who don't go blind avoid that fate by some inherent bodily resistance to the intense light, which makes it more likely that they will attract a mate of "strong stock," whatever that may mean. Another way to put it would be to say that welders that do go blind would be more likely to attract "weaker stock" and their children would thus have less competitive advantage against future generations. As I understand it, Herbert Spencer was strongly opposed to any form of social intervention in poverty because he believed it was the kindest thing you could possibly do for the human population as a whole to allow poverty to do its work of eliminating the weak. Of course, I don't think he ever considered how wealth buffers "weak stock" from facing environmental hostilities.

 

Personally, I think the whole idea of natural selection improving species doesn't make so much sense because it seems to me that the systematic elimination of individuals prior to breeding would gradually reduce genetic diversity, which would ultimately limit the possibilities for future adaptations.