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My mom and I were just discussing this yesterday. We were wondering if, instead of selecting for physical traits, Western society was selectively selecting for behavior characteristics. Let me give you an example. Women who have less of a tendency to bond with their offspring are more likely to have abortions and limit their families. Women who instinctively nurture are less likely to abort and tend to have larger families.

We were playing with the idea that our culture is selectively culling out more "selfish" genes. Maybe, when a population is thriving, certain individuals instinctively limit their own reproduction for the good of the group.

My mom and I were just discussing this yesterday. We were wondering if, instead of selecting for physical traits, Western society was selectively selecting for behavior characteristics. Let me give you an example. Women who have less of a tendency to bond with their offspring are more likely to have abortions and limit their families. Women who instinctively nurture are less likely to abort and tend to have larger families. We were playing with the idea that our culture is selectively culling out more "selfish" genes. Maybe, when a population is thriving, certain individuals instinctively limit their own reproduction for the good of the group. RBJ here. Not fantasy, fact. Consider the following from a recent issue of the Wall Street Journal.

THE ROE EFFECT

The Empty Cradle Will Rock How abortion is costing the Democrats voters--literally.

BY LARRY L. EASTLAND

Wall Street Journal OpinionJournal.com, Monday, June 28, 2004 12:01 a.m. EDT

More than 40 million legal abortions have been performed and documented in the 30 years since the U.S. Supreme Court declared abortion legal. The debate remains focused on the legality and morality of abortion. What's largely ignored is a factual analysis of the political consequences of 40 million abortions. Consider:

• There were 12,274,368 in the Voting Age Population of 205,815,000 missing from the 2000 presidential election, because of abortions from 1973-82.

• In this year's election, there will be 18,336,576 in the Voting Age Population missing because of abortions between 1972 and 1986.

• In the 2008 election, 24,408,960 in the Voting Age Population will be missing because of abortions between 1973-90.

These numbers will not change. They are based on individual choices made--aggregated nationally--as long as 30 years ago. Look inside these numbers at where the political impact is felt most. Do Democrats realize that millions of Missing Voters--due to the abortion policies they advocate--gave George W. Bush the margin of victory in 2000?

RBJ here: No they don't, and even if they did, they wouldn't stop, because it would mean acknowledging that they enabled mass murder and genocide.

What you have described has been called "The Roe Effect". Some political analysts theorize that it will mean an increasingly Republican electorate as many potential Democratic voters have been selected out by their mothers prior to birth.

"We were wondering if, instead of selecting for physical traits, Western society was selectively selecting for behavior characteristics."

Interesting, I have often wondered the same thing too. Our brains (and therefore our minds) are organs just like any other in our bodies, and subject to exactly the same evolutionary processes. Our behavioural characteristics are influenced by our genes, so any mutations in those genes will produce differing behaviours which will alter a person's ability to survive and prosper in whichever society or culture he/she is born into.

The article talks only of "physical" evolution, such as inherited immunity from diseases etc. but "mental" evolution is happening too, and the driver for it is social and cultural change.