Does Stress Speed Up Evolution?
nautil.us
nautil.us
People are getting clumsy, narrow-minded and repetitive under continuous stress, so the "better adapted", who in the long run will reproduce more, would not necessarily be the best specimens.
Our current environment rewards good networking, figuring out ways to pass arbitrary tests and taking advantage of opportunities. Generally the second is done through memorization though delegating is not uncommon. Money/financial system isnt the only way of taking advantage of a system. The genes passed on are usually those of who breed most, polygamists or people who put joy before responsibility.
Your kids will likely use their strongest muscles (what you used the most) to try and survive in the pressence of what will be the next environment (more homework and pop music). Unless your a laborer or a cop, they likely wont be that strong. Unless you actually solved hard problems, they likely wont be that genius. But under the stress, theyll figure out a way or fail trying
One of the nice things about being a sexually reproducing species with a diploid genome, recombination, etc, is we get independent assortment of alleles. Evolution thus happens at the level of the genetic variant, not the individual. You can't fuck harder to ensure the fitness of your genes. This is why eugenics doesn't work.
[This isn't really a criticism though, unexpected results are much more fascinating to read about.]
Both exist.
I can make up a (at least at first sight) plausible explanation, too. Assume a constant energy budget and increased demand when under stress. Then, when running out of reserves, some other energy consumer must be cut down on.
Things that only have real value in the long term such as protections against mutations may be prime candidates for this (just as your intestines shut down during exhaustive exercise such as when running a marathon, not because you can do without them, but because they aren't priority one _now_)