Re: The universe looks designed to me

Wall of Sleep <Sabotage@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
> OK, I guess it's up to the naturalist then to explain the reproductive
> advantage of every feature.

Careful - there are cases where a feature can become common
in a population without being a reproductive advantage. A
reproductive advantage *increases* the odds of a feature
being common, but neutral features can easily become common
just through random chance (for instance, green eyes in a population
which previously had only blue or brown ones) and sometimes
even a negative feature can become common in a population
through 'bad luck', especially if it is a recessive (for instance,
Tay-Sacks disease among Jews). Genetic advantage is
probabalistic, not deterministic.

> For example, what is the reproductive advantage of the
> human's lack of body hair? Having to wear clothes
> doesn't seem to really help us a whole lot.

Not in your and my current environment - but there are several
environments in which it is an advantage for some ecological
niches. For instance, a cursorial hunter beats its prey not
by pouncing but by wearing it down by superior endurance;
such hunters have an advantage if they are capable of
cooling themselves efficiently, especially if they hunt in a
warm environment. Humans sweat - and sweat well - as
a method of cooling (which is unusual - many animals
pant instead). Sweating works better as a cooling method
if the sweaty skin is directly exposed to air instead of being
insulated by a layer of fur; insulation is for staying warm, not
for staying cool.

Basically, mankind is very good at being a warm-environment
cursorial hunter - a lion may be faster in a sprint, but we're
far better in the long haul, and if the man doesn't lose track
of the antelope that antelope is in for a very bad day - the
man can catch up to it before it has a chance to rest from
the first sprint ...

Another environment where hairlessness is useful is
aquatic environments, which has led some scientists to
speculate that mankind may have partially returned to
water at some point, but the evidence for that is very
weak - IMO the cursorial hunter argument has it beat hollow.
Still, it's not my area of expertise. :)

.

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