huckturner{at}hotmail.com (Huck Turner) wrote in
news:cd6f01$k32$1{at}darwin.ediacara.org: 

> Tim Tyler  wrote in message
> news:... 
>> Michael Ragland  wrote or quoted:
>> 
>> > "It's uncertain whether intelligence has any long term survival
>> > value." Stephen Hawking 
>> > 
>> > Ragland:
>> > I'm going to explain what that quote of Hawking means to
"me".
>> > First, the full quote by Hawking is, "It's uncertain whether
>> > intelligence has any long term value. Bacteria do quite well
>> > without it." 
>> 
>> Compare with:
>> 
>> ``It's uncertain whether multicellularity has any long term value. 
>>   Bacteria do quite well without it.''
>> 
>> It's hard to argue with such statements: nothing is certain in this
>> world. 
> 
> I doubt he intended this in such literal terms. He is expressing DOUBT
> that intelligence should be regarded as a blessing. He is challenging
> a view that many people hold dear, something that makes humans feel
> special. Given that Hawking is held up as a modern genius (often
> compared with Einstein), I can appreciate why he might feel he needs
> to downplay the value of intelligence. And I would agree that the
> different levels of intelligence within the human population don't
> seem to be particularly well correlated with selective advantage. You
> don't have to be a particularly smart person to make a living and lead
> a happy life. And in terms of genetic propagation, the more educated
> you are, the fewer children you are likely to have (something that
> Darwin himself noticed).

The correct statement is "the fewer children you are likely to raise", at 
least until we have done considerably more research on who are the real 
genetic fathers of children. For women,  obviously, this objection does 
not hold.  


Yours,

Bill Morse
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