Man is becoming obsolete.

earth_as_one

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I don't see a problem here. Having children is hereditary. If your parents didn't have children, its unlikely you will have children. ;)
 

AnnaG

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karrie

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in a few millenia, the article says. Gee, big worry there, considering the earth probably won't sustain human life that long due to sun expansion. Adios humanity either way.
 

AnnaG

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in a few millenia, the article says. Gee, big worry there, considering the earth probably won't sustain human life that long due to sun expansion. Adios humanity either way.
Exactly! We can barely plan for 2 decades away, let alone a thousand. Waaaaay too many variables.
 

Machjo

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Two decades? It's tough enough getting politicians to plan 4 years ahead! And you're talking decades? Our politicians can't see that far.
 

earth_as_one

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The referenced article in the first post in this string defies critical thought. Sterility can't be inherited....

Please explain how a sterile man with a defective Y chromosome is able to pass that bad chromosome on to the next generation of males...

Yes they can father females, but no males and therefore that's the end of the line for that defective Y chromosome. So this article fails a logic test.
 
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AnnaG

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Two decades? It's tough enough getting politicians to plan 4 years ahead! And you're talking decades? Our politicians can't see that far.
Politicians, yeah. Most can't see past their noses. But most people aren't pols.
 

AnnaG

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The referenced article in the first post in this string defies critical thought. Sterility can't be inherited....

Please explain how a sterile man with a defective Y chromosome is able to pass that bad chromosome on to the next generation....
Sterility? All it would take is for women to give birth to more girls than boys. Eventually boys would become a rarity.
 

JLM

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Politicians, yeah. Most can't see past their noses. But most people aren't pols.

Someone told me years ago that having kids is hereditary, if your parents didn't have any kids, chances are you won't either.................:lol:
 

AnnaG

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Someone told me years ago that having kids is hereditary, if your parents didn't have any kids, chances are you won't either.................:lol:
Years ago would be post #3 in this thread? You age like a cat or a dog?
 

earth_as_one

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Sterility? All it would take is for women to give birth to more girls than boys. Eventually boys would become a rarity.

The issue is that the human Y chromosome has few functional genes. It used to have the same number as the Y chromosome, but over time (millennia), its been shedding genes.

Every so often, a man is born with a mutation on their Y chromosome which causes them to not be able to produce fertile sons. But men with functional Y's can produce fertile sons. So the fertile Y proceeds to the next generation while the defective sterile Y comes to a dead end.

Eventually this process will reach the point where the Y chromosome has shed every unnecessary gene. But it can't go beyond that point while men are required for reproduction.

However its possible that in the future women with medical intervention could reproduce without men. In which case, men and the Y chromosome could become obsolete.
 

AnnaG

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The issue is that the human Y chromosome has few functional genes. Every so often, a man is born with a mutation on their Y chromosome which causes them to not be able to produce sons. But men with function Y's can produce sons. So their Y proceeds to the next generation and the defective Y comes to a dead end.

Eventually this process will evolve to the point where the Y chromosome has shed every unnecessary gene. But it can't go beyond that point while men are required for reproduction.

However its possible that in the future women could sexually reproduce without men. In which case, men and the Y chromosome would become obsolete.
Last I heard was that sterility is the inability to produce whether what would be produced would have x chomosomes or the pair (or "z"s for all that matters. :D) .
 

ironsides

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If man becomes obsolete then it stands to reason that the human species will end as we know it, and as you say "the future women (should then be person) could sexually reproduce without men. In which case, men and the Y chromosome would become obsolete."
 

AnnaG

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