Top misconceptions of Theory of Evolution you had to deal with

[Old Baby]

I still get confused on evolution, like when Dawkins talks about natural selection perhaps favoring gay men because they make good uncles, I'm like... what?

[The Grand Nudger]

LOL, if a population's offspring were better served by gay men due to being better caretakers....then it would. You're confusing homosexuality, likely, with an inability to procreate, consciously or unconsciously, and so it seems like a complete wtf statement.

[robvalue]

That is a bit odd.

I don't know much about that, but if indeed extra male guys hanging around the group made themselves useful instead of being stoned to death for being different, that would help them survive. But unless they actually reproduced, that wouldn't make any difference as nothing would be passed on (genetically, anyway).

And as far as I know, the chances of being gay don't depend on the sexuality of the parents anyway. So I'm puzzled also.

[The Grand Nudger]

Natural selection doesn;t just work on our genetic inheritence, it also selects among behaviors...which can be out of the blue, learned, or enforced at a social level.

[ErGingerbreadMandude]

[Old Baby]

Natural selection doesn;t just work on our genetic inheritence, it also selects among behaviors...which can be out of the blue, learned, or enforced at a social level.

Ok, that kinda makes sense to me.  It's like, I can sort of understand the way evolution works, but not well enough to explain it to a religious person and answer their nonsensical questions.

[ErGingerbreadMandude]

Me too.Also I don't think Gay people have an evolutionary disadvantage since in this Era..
In this industrial Era I think smart people have an evolutionary advantage since they are the money makers and money is the survival factor of people in this Era....

[downbeatplumb]

I haven't been through this thread but has anyone mentioned that some people think that evolution has a goal and we are its ultimate end product. I find that annoying.

[Simon Moon]

Me too.Also I don't think Gay people have an evolutionary disadvantage since in this Era..
In this industrial Era I think smart people have an evolutionary advantage since they are the money makers and money is the survival factor of people in this Era....

Except that survival, in general, is not as important as procreation.

All organisms have to do to be successful, is to survive until they are old enough to procreate.

[Alex K]

I still get confused on evolution, like when Dawkins talks about natural selection perhaps favoring gay men because they make good uncles, I'm like... what?

Dawkins' claim to fame is his gene centric view of evolution outlined in "The Selfish Gene" and "The extended Phenotype" (though oddly not published in te peer reviewed literature). It roughly goes as follows - a gene which increases the probability that males are homosexual might get passed on more efficiently because it makes sure that its carriers more likely have gay relatives helping with the rearing and do not attempt to kill and replace the offspring with their own. The gene boosting the homosexuality ratio does not need to get passed on by the homosexual individuals themselves to be selected for.