> The poachers aren't selectively breeding for elephants without tusks
Yes they are, that is exactly what they are doing.
There is nothing natural about it. It wouldn't happen if not for the poachers.
Yes they are, that is exactly what they are doing.
There is nothing natural about it. It wouldn't happen if not for the poachers.
I feel like I don't really know enough about the specifics of natural selection or evolution to have a strong opinion on this.
The poaching is definitely not natural, so it feels like this is not natural selection.
On the other hand, no one is deliberately breeding for this in any way, it's purely a side effect of these circumstances, which does feel more natural.
You could just view the poachers as an environmental hazard to tusked elephants, in which case this would be a perfect example of natural selection.
Yes okay you can say this...
But if you are saying that poachers/humans are part of nature, then nothing in the world is "unnatural" anymore. I think this line of reasoning, while valid, is less precise and less interesting.