Media's influence on Evolution

POLEMICAL DIPLOMAT

New Member
Dec 11, 2006
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Considering some evolutoinary concepts such as sexual selection and adaptation to environment, is it possible that media's indoctrination of people into looking for certain traights in a mate they would probably not otherwise look for, will have an impact on human evolution?

Is it possible that because of media's content, a man born today with a traight stigmatized by media through it's overemphasis on the unimportant ones, may never find a spouse, but the same man born 500 years ago may have had a traight that at that time was advantagous and therefor had 7 kids? 500 years is nothing as far as evolution but I think the human species is evolving at an exponentially increasing rate.

What about the growing emphasis on speed and short-term productivity instead of creativity and accuracy?
Doesn't this mean the often slower but more creative people have less chance for success and will therefore eventually be genetically filtered out of existance? I wonder how Isaac Newton would fare in todays world.

I think that evolution is going to take a turn away from adaptation in order to survive in an earthly enviroment, and go towards adapation in order to survive in not an environment at all, but a fantasy. Some truly useful traights may eventually be completely stripped from our species as a result, and in a worst case scenario could result in the extinction of the human species.
 

Dexter Sinister

Unspecified Specialist
Oct 1, 2004
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I'm no biologist, but it seems to me that the answer to your questions is, at least broadly, yes, but I wouldn't be quick to blame the media. It's happened before. The breasts that females of our species display would seem to be due to sexual selection, as they're not functionally necessary. Our nearest relatives, chimps and bonobos, don't have them, but they seem to be pretty important to the sexual decisions of human males. Our culture has pretty much fetishized them in the last 50 years, and that I think we can certainly blame on the media. There's what strikes me as a wholly artificial standard of female beauty around these days, which to me quite frankly resembles the body of a slender 14-year old boy from the ribcage down, and above that a pair of huge... well, no need to get crude. If Playboy's Miss January represents the current standard of what a beautiful female body should look like, it seems worth noting that pretty much nobody actually looks like that, probably including Miss January herself after all the airbrushing and retouching those images get. I'd also bet heavily that such an artificial standard is at the root of anorexia: for by far the majority of women, it's an impossible goal.

In the larger scheme of things though, the ultimate end of all species is extinction, and whether we hasten our own with short-sighted fantasies or nature takes care of it for us would seem to be moot. Reality trumps fantasy every time.
 

jimmoyer

jimmoyer
Apr 3, 2005
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www.contactcorp.net
...the ultimate end of all species is extinction,...
-------------------------------Dexter Sinister---------------------------------------

Meanwhile our scientists explore the extension of life spans, our space programs explore other
worlds for settlement since even Earth will eventually die too, if not from the molten core ceasing
then from the sun growing old and expanding itself through a supernova to Earth's orbit.

Atrophy, entropy and life, contra brothers.
 

POLEMICAL DIPLOMAT

New Member
Dec 11, 2006
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...the ultimate end of all species is extinction,...
-------------------------------Dexter Sinister---------------------------------------

Meanwhile our scientists explore the extension of life spans, our space programs explore other
worlds for settlement since even Earth will eventually die too, if not from the molten core ceasing
then from the sun growing old and expanding itself through a supernova to Earth's orbit.

Atrophy, entropy and life, contra brothers.

Unfortanately, our scientists seem to make far more progress in weapons devolopement than "the extention of life spans". It is far more likely that most of the human population will be wiped out as a result of this, than it is our live's will ever be significantly expanded.

Perhaps we are evolving to a point where we cannot fully understand what our ancenstors discovered and created for us. Perhaps because of this fantasy breed media is evolving us into, we will just keep expanding on previous discoveries and creative genius, in narrow minded ignorance untill we destroy ourselves.
 

#juan

Hall of Fame Member
Aug 30, 2005
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I only look at Playboy for the articles myself...:)..but I would agree that if the current styling trends tend towards Barbie and Ken, we could have a generation of Barbie and Ken look alikes but who knows if Barbie and Ken have any other survival traits worth passing on.
 

Kreskin

Doctor of Thinkology
Feb 23, 2006
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I only look at Playboy for the articles myself...:)..but I would agree that if the current styling trends tend towards Barbie and Ken, we could have a generation of Barbie and Ken look alikes but who knows if Barbie and Ken have any other survival traits worth passing on.

I didn't know Playboy had photos... ;)
 

Kreskin

Doctor of Thinkology
Feb 23, 2006
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They rarely show Hugh Hefner on the cover....:)

With all the negatives on traditional news media coming from the right I'm thinking of turning to Playboy for my news. I'll have to look for photos ;)
 

#juan

Hall of Fame Member
Aug 30, 2005
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If memory serves, there is a large page in the middle of the magazine. Probably all kinds of news on it....:read2:
 

Kreskin

Doctor of Thinkology
Feb 23, 2006
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If memory serves, there is a large page in the middle of the magazine. Probably all kinds of news on it....:read2:

If it is good reference material I will hang it on my shop wall so I can review it often.
 

#juan

Hall of Fame Member
Aug 30, 2005
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Probably a good plan. I understand production falls off if these things are hung in the bathroom.
 

Dalreg

Electoral Member
Sep 29, 2006
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Saskatchewan eh!
As a long time subscriber of the magazine (for the articles) I can tell you the ladies who are featured in the magazine have changed over the last couple of years away from the typical Barbie Doll copy to you more typical woman. Still out of my league, but almost girl next door. Now saying that there are some featured that definitely fit the Barbie stereotype.

Side note Jan. issue has everyones favorite barbie (Pam).
 

Tresson

Nominee Member
Apr 22, 2005
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I think we have more to worry about the media pushing the idea of "dumb is better then smart" harming us in the long run.