[Dataman]

REPRODUCTION is all that counts in evolution.

Then why don't we reproduce like dogs? Like flies? Why doesn't the female have more eggs? If we didn't get old, we could reproduce more. IOW, the higher animals should be better at reproduction and the lower should be less efficient. If all that is necessary is to pass on the genes, why do we live beyond 20?

Here's another puzzle for youse:

The Egyptians held that the ideal age was 120. That was over 3500 years ago.

[VadeRetro]

Then why don't we reproduce like dogs?

Maybe it's just me but I like to see breasts and stuff.

Like flies?

Not really.

Why doesn't the female have more eggs?

She has all the eggs.

If we didn't get old, we could reproduce more.

We could do everything more.

IOW, the higher animals should be better at reproduction and the lower should be less efficient. If all that is necessary is to pass on the genes, why do we live beyond 20?

If we didn't get old, we could reproduce more.

Here's another puzzle for youse:

Is it "Stump the Dummies" time? What do you prove with this if you ever do stump somebody?

The Egyptians held that the ideal age was 120. That was over 3500 years ago.

The maximum human longevity was has changed very little (until perhaps just recently). The average longevity has changed quite a bit over the same interval.

[js1138]

Then why don't we reproduce like dogs?

You really don't get the concept of selection, do you?

[gomaaa]

We don't reproduce at the same rate as other species because it takes longer to make a human embryo than, say, a mouse. By the same token the gestation period for a horse is 330 days while an elephant takes over a year. Flies reproduce faster because it's faster to make a small creature. So why is the world not populated entirely by mayflys if they're so good at reproducing? Because we are not in direct competition with them. Beetles are not likely to force us into extinction, nor are we likely to do the same thing to them. We don't compete for resources. We are plenty efficient at reproducing in our own way. Bugs are good at reproducing in theirs. If it ever came down to it and we somehow had to compete with insects for food to the point where the survival of our respective speices was at stake, we'd have problems.

The whole concept of "higher" vs. "lower" animals is meaningless. In competition for resources, the only thing that counts is reproduction. If there is some kind of competition between higher and lower, we would probably get our asses kicked.

As to our life span, it wasn't too long ago that we really didn't live much beyond 20, no matter what the ancient Egyptians would have liked.