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Author Topic:   Humans of the future?
jsmall
Inactive Member


Message 82 of 82 (185391)
02-14-2005 10:59 PM


An idea on human evolution
This looks like the perfect time to get us back on track.
I think that some of our medical advances could potentially affect human evolution in a 'negative' way. I'm speaking of cesarean section
births. Most of us here probably know that human babies are born in a very 'neonatized' state compared to other primates. The general consensus is that we need to get out of the mother before our heads get any bigger and can't fit through the pelvis.
Nowadays, in technologically advanced countries, no expense is spared trying to save every single baby that might be born. Many births that might have resulted in the death of the baby and/or the mother because the baby took too long to come out or was too big in the first place are helped along by c-section. What are the long-term effects of this?
(In no way am I advocating eliminating c-sections, just an intellectual exercise here.)
Of course, currently, the vast majority of the world doesn't have the capabilities that we do in the US so if there is ever any effect on our species, it will only be after many more areas of the world have access to modern medical techn. and many many generations have passed. But it's something to think about.
Actually, I have a feeling, we'll be genetically engineering ourselves long before this effect is felt anyway. But while the doctors are thinking about how to make the babies smarter and stronger, they might be forgetting to make sure they can still be born fairly easily. Maybe we should engineer a more flexible pelvis before anything else? ;-)
Anyway, those are my thoughts.

  
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