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[gronned]

It's occurred to me before, but I came to think about it again when I saw the trailer for Idiocracy - Evolution fails itself.

Evolution gave us morals for one reason or another, which now appears to have gone too far. Because of these morals we have advance well-fare systems that makes the stupid able to survive and reproduce when they only a few hundred years ago would've been "selected out" by natural selection. The problem is that morons are masters at reproduction.
Today everyone can get kids, without a problem, and that's not beneficial for the evolutionary process as natural selection has on its agenda to single out the bad traits.

Does this mean that the evolution "lost"? It developed a trait(morals/ethics) so well that it backfired?

I generally consider myself a moral person, but the advanced morals we have today are only an illusion of the zeitgeist. Put yourself on a deserted island and your morals are vanished.

The evolution will always live on, but I think humans may have been an evolutionary "mistake" if we allow the bad traits to prosper.
I don't think there's a reality, but still I think we're farther away from the non-existent reality than ever before. Even then I know what politics I wish to rule, it's only that my mind won't agree with my morals.

*I know I could get badly flamed for this, but it's just that I wanted to see your opinions on the matter. I'm in now way a social darwinist*

[lordvader129]

well, evolution isnt an intelligent force trying to make a species that lasts for eons, it simply favors individuals who produce offspring who in turn produce offspring of their own, the fact that morons are masters of reproduction as you say means they are, always have been, and always will be favored by evolution, its not a mistake because as far as evolution goes its not a bad trait

i dont think it would ever really get to a point like idiocracy, a certain percentage of the population will always have to be intelligent, otherwise the rest will die off, lol, the premise behind idiocracy relies on automation of everything that requires even the smallest bit of intelligence to do, so that intelligent people are no longer required for the population to survive, i dont think we will ever get to that point

BTW have you ever read the marching morons by cyril kornbluth?

[gronned]

No, of course it's not a mistake in the sense of how the evolution works, but I seriously doubt it could benefit the evolutionary process that we make it easier for the less intelligent to reproduce. I know I make it sound like the evolution is some sort of intelligent force, but that's definitely not what I mean.

Nature is incredibly cruel, but it's a fact nonetheless. If we become too many less intelligent on the earth they probably wouldn't be able to handle it(depending on what the science can do) and the intelligent will regain some grounds. Maybe that will go in some sort of cycle in the future Should take centuries though.

I only saw the trailer for the film, so I cannot answer for the rest of it. And no, I haven't read that book, but the title sounds intriguing

[hardcandy]

If an environment changes, any adaptation that gives an advantage in that environment is propagated. Any adaptation which causes difficulty with an environment is less likely to be propagated.
Let's take a scenario in which the world's mean temperature rises. Polar bears are less likely to propagate than lizards. (Which may be happening right now).
It is very difficult to transfer evolution to a social environment, way too many variables. If humans with lower IQ's reproduce 2x more than than humans with higher IQ's, yes, the lower IQ humans will be more numerous.
But what if the physical environment changes to favor a higher IQ human. Example: the mean temperature rises and causes flooding of any land <1000 feet above sea level. The smart folks move to the higher ground and transfer their food supply and equipment (crops,refrigeration, farming tools, storage,etc). The dumb folks just move to higher ground but leave their refrigerators and hoes behind. They starve eventually and their reproduction rate falls due to poor nutrition. Hopefully the smart folks will have high walls around their living areas.