Randolph Nesse: "Why didn’t natural selection make humans healthier and nicer?"

One cannot help by be amazed, even awed, at many aspects of the human body shaped by natural selection. The eye is so remarkable it disturbed even Darwin. Now that we are trying to imitate what selection shaped, the near-perfection seems even more amazing. Even the best artificial hips only last a decade. Our heart valves open and close 2,500,000,000 times without leaking; no artificial valve comes close. We can climb stairs better than any robot. We can love others and find others who genuinely care about us.

If natural selection can shape such extraordinary near-perfection, why did it leave us with wisdom teeth, narrow coronary arteries, and a narrow birth canal? Why does the eye have a blind spot? Why do we love the very foods that make us obese and send us early to the grave? Why can't we be more satisfied with our lives, and more accepting of people in different groups? Why can't we all just get along?

The tendency in medicine, and in social science, is to think of bodies and minds as amazingly perfect machines that sometimes break and always wear out. But our bodies are very different from machines. They were not designed, and they were shaped to maximize reproduction, if that results in suffering or early death. Recognizing our origins in evolution is the first step to understanding what is wonderful about life and why it can sometimes be so awful. It is also the key to making life longer, healthier and happier.

March 13-15, 2009

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