I know I majored in "Social Studies" and haven't taken a legitimate science class in... hmm... about six years... but this is the most hilariously irresponsible piece of scientific journalism I've seen in ages. A real home run, BBC Online!
In this gem of an article, an "evolutionary theorist" named Oliver Curry predicts, inter alia, that humans will diverge into a "genetic upper class [that] [will] be tall, slim, healthy, attractive, intelligent, and creative" and a genetic "'underclass'... who [will] have evolved into dim-witted, ugly, squat goblin-like creatures."
Oh, but it gets better...
[I]n the nearer future, humans will evolve in 1,000 years into giants between 6ft and 7ft tall, he predicts, while life-spans will have extended to 120 years, Dr Curry claims.
Physical appearance, driven by indicators of health, youth and fertility, will improve, he says, while men will exhibit symmetrical facial features, look athletic, and have squarer jaws, deeper voices and bigger penises.
Okaaay, Mr. Mengele... but... where is your scientific "evidence"? Hmm, there's the problem. If you look at the entire article, you will not find one study, experiment or, um, number to suggest that any of this is true. But hey, if Doctor Curry said it, it must be right.
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Impossible. This could only be true if height conferred some sort of survival or reproductive advantage. As evidenced by my two hundred and fifty pound five foot two patients, everyone is making babies.
Furthermore, even if there were any significant reproductive advantage associated with height, it is too multifactorial to be reliably inherited as a discrete genetic trait. Because it is too dependent on nutrition (and subsequently, socioeconomic status), the concept of a tall person always begetting a tall person is Lamarkian (Lamark once postulated that an iron smith with a large arm would beget children with large arms). It's a claim devoid of scientific viability and will be dismissed as such.
Well I think it's more about divergence. I.e. that hot people will bang hot people and beget people who are ... even hotter! Not genetically impossible perhaps, except for the fact that tastes change, some hot people bang smart people less hot than them (see, e.g., several unnamed members of the YLS class of 2007), etc.
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