while ultimately your theory may be true, what i just pointed out shows that the actual incidence rate of cancer is much higher than you think it is, you may even have cancer yourself one day. in addition, the other factors i described show that cancer is increasingly becoming a factor of our environment, our diets, our lifestyles, and our surroundings, and not so much genetics

 

....aka artificial selection. natural selection has to do with environmental factors that weed out phenotypes of a species not adaptable to that environment to the point where it makes a change in the gene pool of the species. modern medicine is not an environmental factor.

 

yes you are correct. medicine is not an environmental factor, however it prevents the weeding out of those phenotypes that are not adaptable, therefore preventing the change in the gene pool of the species.

 

If it can be cured, leave it. If it cant be cured, dump it.

 

here lies the problem. You cant "Cure" a genetic disorder, you can only treat it. Causingyou and your offspring to be reliant on advanced medacine. Asmhea is the perfect example..

 

or diabetes

 

The problem with your entire theory is your assumption that any of these diseases would be weeded out by natural selection.

Natural selection only comes into play in determining which animals will BREED and which will die before they do so. The incidence rate of cancer in the human breeding population (say, under 40) is very very small. The 'inferior' genes have already been passed on to their offspring by the time they are affected in the slightest by any of the illnesses you mentioned.

Why does a herd of deer become cancer-ridden if it isn't thinned? The animals LIVE LONGER. What we are seeing here is not the degredation of the human genome, but rather the EXTENSION of human life far beyond what was possible 20 years ago, and beyond the limits of the human body without modern medicine.

Also, your assumption that mutation and abormalities are bad completely contradicts the whole theory of evolution and natural selection. Who is to say that those predisposed to cancer are not superior to other humans in some factor (skin tolerance to UV...), with that unfortunate side effect?

Quite frankly, there's nothing natural about what you think should be done. Natural selection in humans cannot be based on any natural factors, because we no longer need to hunt for and aquire food, nor find shelter, nor fight for dominance.

 

I didnt say anything about cancer.. that pops around too much. I'm talking about disorders that show up instantly or soon after birth.

 

Actually natural selection still take its course on humankind. I read somewhere on science that our jaw is getting smaller than people couple hundred years ago. Same thing with height. 5'6" was consider to be average height for an American during George Washington time. Basically, we are evolving to adapt to our high tech lives.
As for medicine, it proves our evolution in intelligence. We're getting smarter to cure diseases and stuffs.

 

I have asthma and people have been known to die of it. So according to you I shouldn't propagate? I get your point but honestly how can you say what is life threatening or what isn't. With the way technology is advancing today more diseases are getting cured and life expectancy increasing.

~Me