Eugenics isn’t a stupid idea on the face of it, but then you look at where our dog breeding has gone…
The good news is that humans are pretty adaptable already. The only things that really definitely could sink us are our inability to react to really abstract, gradual problems and our tribalism.
It’s pretty unclear how much of the breeding 30000BC-1500AD was deliberate, and how much was just a kind of selection as people decided to eat their naughtiest dog when famine came. I’m talking about the highly-targeted breeding that brought us the pug unable to breath and German shepherds with back legs that stick out wrong because it looks cool.
Also, wolves are pretty good at what they do, I’m not sure it’s fair to say they’re worse than dogs somehow.
Eugenics isn’t a stupid idea on the face of it, but then you look at where our dog breeding has gone…
The good news is that humans are pretty adaptable already. The only things that really definitely could sink us are our inability to react to really abstract, gradual problems and our tribalism.
Without dog breeding, dogs would be still be wolves.
It’s pretty unclear how much of the breeding 30000BC-1500AD was deliberate, and how much was just a kind of selection as people decided to eat their naughtiest dog when famine came. I’m talking about the highly-targeted breeding that brought us the pug unable to breath and German shepherds with back legs that stick out wrong because it looks cool.
Also, wolves are pretty good at what they do, I’m not sure it’s fair to say they’re worse than dogs somehow.
Breeding unhealthy dogs could be called dysgenics. It’s like breeding better slaves instead of better humans.
Wolves are good, evolution worked. Pet dogs are extra lives producing added value to themselves and their owners.