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Darwin's theory of Natural Selection is a pretty cool thing, and I mostly agree with it -- especially since I learned of "Kin Selection" to help explain certain things. If you don't know about "kin selection" it's the theory that "altruism" or bravery in war or things of that nature actually *are* good things from the "natural selection" point of view. If you do something which may get you killed, but results in your siblings being able to stay alive & have lots of kids, then your genes (the ones you got from your parents who also gave genes to your siblings) are more likely to get carried on. So, it's not just about *you* making little babies, but also having your sibs make babies. Not that it's necessary, but this would lend support to homosexuality as being a "good" thing, evolution-wise.
What I don't get (maybe there's another nifty idea like "kin selection") is the way one's body loses muscle mass/aerobic fitness/flexibility quickly and doesn't gain it back quickly. I like working out, but if I miss working out for a month or two due to traveling or having a cold, my muscles aren't very strong when I go back to working out. One would think that the people who can regain fitness faster after some kind of hiatus would be the ones who are "selected" for under natural selection. But, based on my own experience, and that of the others that I see, that's not the case. If you stop working out (or stretching, or doing aerobics) for a while, then your body quickly gives up whatever level of fitness you had. When you go to start up again, you're way down in level from where you were before, and there is a *large* tendency to just give up & not start up again. That just seems to run counter to what would have been a "good" set of genes to inherit.
Admit it. If your body quickly regained it's previous level of fitness every time you start back after a hiatus, wouldn't you be more likely to keep working out/stretching/doing aerobics?
What I don't get (maybe there's another nifty idea like "kin selection") is the way one's body loses muscle mass/aerobic fitness/flexibility quickly and doesn't gain it back quickly. I like working out, but if I miss working out for a month or two due to traveling or having a cold, my muscles aren't very strong when I go back to working out. One would think that the people who can regain fitness faster after some kind of hiatus would be the ones who are "selected" for under natural selection. But, based on my own experience, and that of the others that I see, that's not the case. If you stop working out (or stretching, or doing aerobics) for a while, then your body quickly gives up whatever level of fitness you had. When you go to start up again, you're way down in level from where you were before, and there is a *large* tendency to just give up & not start up again. That just seems to run counter to what would have been a "good" set of genes to inherit.
Admit it. If your body quickly regained it's previous level of fitness every time you start back after a hiatus, wouldn't you be more likely to keep working out/stretching/doing aerobics?