MadSci Network: Evolution
Query:

Re: when people who are able to have children decide not to have them how

Date: Wed Jan 12 12:37:29 2000
Posted By: Michael Ringel, , Ph.D. Biology (Population Dynamics), The Boston Consulting Group
Area of science: Evolution
ID: 947432717.Ev
Message:

I have two hypotheses as explanations.
1) having fewer children is not necessarily maladaptive. Parents have 
limited investments (not simply in a financial sense, but in all that a 
parent can give) to make in their children, and human babies are 
particularly expensive. Fewer children at the start may result in more 
children surviving to maturity and successfully finding high-quality 
mates. Although you are right that the genotype that grows the faster will 
be the one to predominate, the genotype which is the fastest growing *in 
the long term* is not necessarily one that favors maximizing the number of 
offspring. Indeed, one can assist in propagating one's own genotype 
without having children at all-- by being available to assist in the 
rearing of one's relative's children. Thus, other "decisions" about 
whether to reproduce or not are not necessarily maladptive.
2) married couples "deciding" to have fewer children is maladptive, and 
the reason this behavior has not been selected out of the population is 
that the phenomenon is incredibly new in the timeframe that evolution 
operates on.

To differentiate between these hypothesis, one could run an analysis of 
the number of great-great-grandchildren, great-great-nieces and nephews, 
etc-- any relatives-- of people deciding today not to have many children, 
and those deciding otherwise. But without such data, be wary of 
pronouncing something maladaptive. Science is empirical, and what works 
and what doesn't work in an evolutionary sense can be very surprising.


Current Queue | Current Queue for Evolution | Evolution archives

Try the links in the MadSci Library for more information on Evolution.



MadSci Home | Information | Search | Random Knowledge Generator | MadSci Archives | Mad Library | MAD Labs | MAD FAQs | Ask a ? | Join Us! | Help Support MadSci


MadSci Network, webadmin@www.madsci.org
© 1995-2000. All rights reserved.