Tim Tyler  wrote in message
news:...
> Anthony Cerrato  wrote:
> 
> : Yes; I understand there are also slime molds and some trees
> : that have been around hundreds (thousands?) of years...and the
> : Great Red Spot on Jupiter has not been a newcomer as far as
> : longevity is concerned. Sure, one doubts that anything can
> : be eternal, but so long as the energy is available, some 
> : things can come darn close I think--many large enough
> : dynamic systems are remarkably adaptable to sprouting
> : new branches. For humans, genetic engineering tech
> : available in not too many years will allow us to
> : adapt quite well to evolving (and/or alien) conditions
> : extending individual and species lifetimes to thousands
> : of years and beyond.
> 
> I have little doubt that the trend towards living longer will
> continue.  We may also see a few very-long-lived individuals.
> 
> However, my impression is that evolution often prefers to spend
> resources on reproduction rather than on longevity.
> 
> By living longer, you may get to be a parent more often -
> but by reproducing, all your children get the opportunity
> to be parents - and then all their children also do.
> 
> This is the same as the difference between linear return and
> exponential return on an investment.
> 
> To overcome such exponential returns, investment in longer
> lifespans had better be /very/ cheap or /very/ rewarding
> if it is to get much attention in the face of competition
> for resources from reproduction.
> 
> Probably much the same considerations apply to species -
> species would rather divide than persist - since
> persitsting puts all their eggs in one basket.

Yes, I agree with what you're saying Tim, but I think we're not on the
same page here because I wasn't too clear on exactly what I meant. You
are referring to _raw_ evolution here, while I was referring to, let's
call it, "human-directed evolution," i.e., evolution designed and
directed solely by humans. This would involve advanced reproductive
techniques such as genetic modification and cloning, and advanced
fetal-growth and maturation technologies (viz., biochem
growth/nourishment mediators and some type of synthetic womb, a la
_Brave New World_.)

When such technologies become available, human-directed evolution will
become commonplace in society, and these memes/practices will
eventually lead to radical changes in both individuals and the human
species--
leading to the very benefits you ascribe to natural evolution, and
additional ones, e.g., reproductive control yielding new modified
species will allow them  to become extremely diverse, thus increasing
the chances for survival (albeit, technically, no longer being Homo
sap.--a small price to pay tho.) Such type of "new" evolution will
also allow "geno-forming" for new planets and wildly different
environments/ecosystems allowing us to eventually spread our heritage
to the stars...and someday perhaps, even allow us to provide our
legacy to alien races throughout the galaxy! (Ugh, am I a poet, or
what? Don't answer that. :-))            ...tonyC
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