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Originally Posted by zerospinboson
That works up to a point, but you should keep in mind that, once there is no need for adaptation anymore, as the differences in fitness are negligible (or no longer being selected by partners), you will reach a plateau as a species.
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The differences in fitness are always negligible but over time they still count and unfortunately the changes that occur happen over many generations so you won't see any change in one lifetime. We don't really compete with other species (unless you count viruses/disease) but we still compete with each other. In my own country there is a tendency for the more intelligent to have fewer children and so the gene pool will likely move towards a lower average intelligence - assuming intelligence is inherited. I guess even governments could influence the gene pool simply by altering charity donations, hospital budgets and child aid - I'm certainly not saying they should but I believe that the possibility is there.
Any discussion regarding human genetics in the media tends to get bogged down in accusations of one variety or the other but sometimes the truth comes out in comedy - there was a fun film called
Idiocracy which was quite funny until you realised the science was correct and then it became quite frightening. A while back a book called
The Bell Curve also rang a lot of warning bells but was widely put down in the media - though again the science looked correct. Interestingly the book gets a lower review in the US than in the UK. Go figure.
Mike