Ugly Kids and Natural Selection, Darwinism at work?

The Redstate Rant ^ | 4/03/05 | Hoss

[LW McMurray]

Canadian researchers have made a startling assertion: parents take better care of pretty children than they do ugly ones.

But late in the article comes this quote from Dr. Frans de Waal, a professor of psychology at Emory University:

"The question," he said, "is whether ugly people have fewer offspring than handsome people. I doubt it very much. If the number of offspring are the same for these two categories, there's absolutely no evolutionary reason for parents to invest less in ugly kids."......this is the where evoltionary argument is going.....

[muawiyah]

Many previous studies have demonstrated that human beings view the most absolutely average people as being the most attractive.

Give a normal curve and you'll always have ugly people with which to contend.

[Old_Mil]

"The question," he said, "is whether ugly people have fewer offspring than handsome people. I doubt it very much. If the number of offspring are the same for these two categories, there's absolutely no evolutionary reason for parents to invest less in ugly kids."......this is the where evoltionary argument is going.....

Whether or not evolution is true (and I don't believe it is), why does he doubt that ugly people have fewer offspring than handsome people? Statistically, it's probably a given that in today's society ugly people have difficulty finding mates and getting married. This should, in the long run, translate into fewer offspring...

[VoodooEconomics]

Whatever happened to "beauty is in the eye of the beholder"?

[Libertarianize the GOP]

Maybe ugly parents are less attentive parents.

[ILurkedIRegisteredIPosted]

It became "beauty is in the eye of the beer-holder"...

[dandelion]

They say that the children were "ugly" and then they blame the child's ugliness for the parental lack of affection? Seems to me that the parents are far uglier than any of these poor little children.

[mlc9852]

However, these days marriage seems to have little to do with producing offspring!

[VoodooEconomics]

MORE BEER!