Clever? The term seems to imply some sort of illegitimacy to my argument. What about blind cave creatures? Do you think they have become blind over generations due to genetic regression? Or do you think an Intelligent Designer made them that way? If they did become blind over generations, is that evolution? I think these are hard questions!
BTW, did you see the 2 hour History Channel show aired tonight on the Spartan "300" ? They covered the Spartan practice of "exposure" of the newborn, and further stated ( which I hadn't known ) that each newborn would be carefully examined for defects by an elder, and disposed of accordingly. Not precisely a eugenically motivated program, but effectively a brutal version of one.
Dr_Lew...here is an article from Wikipedia, about eugenics...in the paragraph I have copied here, it makes mention of this Spartan practice of exposure of newborns...I know that many people do not like Wikipedia as the end source, so I am using Wikipedia as a starting point, as a place in which to begin looking at the subject of eugenics, and going on from there...anyway, here is the paragraph I am talking about, with a link...one can then go into further study on the subject if one wishes...
'Pre-Galton eugenics
Selective breeding was suggested at least as far back as Plato, who believed human reproduction should be controlled by government. He recorded these ideals in The Republic: "The best men must have intercourse with the best women as frequently as possible, and the opposite is true of the very inferior." Plato proposed that the process be concealed from the public via a form of lottery. Other ancient examples include Sparta's purported practice of infanticide. However, they would leave all babies outside for a length of time, and the survivors were considered stronger, while many "weaker" babies perished.[citation needed]'
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenics
Infanticide might have happened, but history shows that eugenics and/or eugenically motivated programs don't work.