Un-naturalising Selection (or “Who’s on the bus that shouldn’t be?”)

It’s 7.45am and I’m on the bus. Depending on the morning I catch one of two buses, so my fellow bus-catching companions change daily. And yet, here I am again, the bus is full, people are standing, but the seat next to me is empty. The very last sitting space left on the bus, and people opt to stand rather than sit next to me. Do I smell weird? Is my perpetual resting bitch face deterring? As I begin to sing Casey Chambers’ classic “Am I not pretty enough” my mind wonders to the theory of natural selection, cause God forbid this is bigger than me and my invisible friend hogging the next seat.

The theory of natural selection states the individuals with characteristics most suited to the environment are more likely to survive. In reproducing, these genes that allow them to be successful are passed to their offspring. On the other hand, individuals that poorly adapt to their environment are less likely to survive and reproduce — meaning that their genes are less likely to be passed to the next generation. Given enough time, a species will gradually evolve.

If the bus were the wild, obviously I would not survive. But in the modern heavily regulated concrete jungle in which we reside, has natural selection become redundant?

I don’t know about you, but I can be a strongly sadistic person. I believe that people make choices that lead to consequences. Depending on my mood, “Shit Happens ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ” is also one of my favourite explanations, however as I continue to grow and learn more about the world around me, I cannot ignore the restrictions placed upon my life as a result of the “less-considerate people” (for lack of a better term) around me.

In most cases, laws are created to protect the general safety and rights of citizens against other people, organisations and the government. However it could also be argued that essentially laws exist to protect the rights of the members of a society and to ensure that they do not have to protect those rights through their own actions — they are protecting us from ourselves.

We regulate so much against stupid actions that those that would otherwise be naturally unselected are slipping through the evolutionary cracks.

Ready for a joke? How many non-electricians in Victoria does it take to change a light bulb? Answer: None, it’s illegal.

Whichever genius’ actions this law was founded upon better not have also been responsible for other law enforcement shortcomings — for example why I can’t legally wear hot pink pants after midday on a Sunday, or crusade my street couple dressing with my best friend as Batman and Robin. Yes, these are both real Australian laws, but seriously, way to ruin the party for everyone guys.

Although these offensives are not particularly offensive, other laws have been created that stop the process of natural selection in its tracks (pun intended — see below).

According to this law, not only does your stupidity kill you but you also get fined $200. If that fine doesn’t warn you off, I don’t know what will.

One columnist argues, “for the “strongest” to survive, the weak must continually die. But in human beings, nearly everyone survives, even the weakest, meaning that natural selection is no longer selecting for the strong, thanks in part to medical advances” and law interruptions. So here comes my point,

If we are stopping natural selection from selecting, are we continuing to let the less-considerate people around us to breed, and in turn hindering the evolution of mankind?

Donald Burleson, Ph.D considers contemporary society now favours the stupid over the intelligent as a result of government intervention and law regulations. Burleson believes that until recently, increased intelligence has always been a redeeming asset, “in that smarter individuals have always been more capable at staying alive and producing descendants than individuals not so mentally acute.” However, Burleson now argues that due to the shifting prevalence of socio-political and economic philosophies we have come to appreciate in many parts of the world, human beings are in fact “devolving”.

Although I feel like “devolving” is a bit of a stretch, I can see old Donald’s point. Our society has become so overbearing in protecting its citizens from themselves that, like a helicopter parent, our government has become that parent in the playground that covers their child in Band-Aids just in case he grazes his knee. Our strong desire to care and protect is actually working against us to upset the natural laws and balance of humanity. I say let society run around the playground, fall down, get back up, run around some more, cause only that way can we learn how to look after ourselves and continue to grow.

And so as I tell my story (please note: the seat next to me is still empty), I begin to ponder is this bus really heading in the right direction?

Originally published at The Isthmus.