Variation Under Nature

  "... as varieties, in order to become in any degree permanent, necessarily have to struggle with the other inhabitants of the country, the species which are already dominant will be the most likely to yield offspring, which, though in some slight degree modified, still inherit those advantages that enabled their parents to become dominant over their compatriots."

~ C.D.
Natural selection in a nutshell

Cultural Selection?

This is one of those discoveries that seems both intuitive and surprising at the same time. Perhaps because so many of us have thought for so long precisely what this NY Times article on human culture and evolution states, that it is "a shield that protects people from the full force of other selective pressures", it is surprising that culture is also such a strong influencer (not just inhibitor) of our evolution. All of us who love that tall glass of milk alongside a warm brownie can appreciate it. This article highlights several more of the less known ways culture can impact our evolution. It is fairly unsurprising (for as much as we humans, and our cultures, love to eat!) that many of them have to do with food.