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How, then, do new disorders fit into this idea?  AIDS, for example, has 
"selected" an awful lot of people despite technology.  And it may be the 
case that developmental disorders such as autism and tourettes are on 
the rise - with technology having no role in mitigating the increase.  
If we could control evolution through technology, we should surely be 
living longer and healthier lives - yet overall we are not!
> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
> *****************************************************************************
>
> As someone with a strong interest in evolution (and futurology) and science
> education, I'd like to add my two cents:
> I actually think it's quite possible that modern humans would largely stop
> evolving (modern humans are vastly different from how we were even 500 years
> ago). All it would entail is enough technology (as I believe Martin Weiss
> implied) to allow anyone who wants to have kids to be able to do so (a state
> we are rather close to achieving). Even a cataclysmic event which would
> otherwise be perfect for punctuated equilibrium may not necessarily cause
> this situation to change. Considering that humans generally have small
> numbers (relatively speaking), long generation times, ever increasing rates
> of gene-mixing between different populations, and lots of technology, we
> would not necessarily adapt biologically to a new situation; it seems more
> likely that we'd adapt technologically. As an example, consider lactose
> intolerance, which someone mentioned: the right genes even exist and yet we
> didn't wait for them to spread through the population. Instead, we just
> invented lactose-free milk and medications to treat symptoms. Technological,
> not biological, solutions. (Which may even be halting or negating natural
> selection.)
>
> Of course, natural selection would still sift out "unfit" individuals
> (though that's also diminishing with progresses in technology and medicine
> etc) and I suppose selection could still be found in a few interesting ways,
> such as fostering genes which encourage people to actually reproduce,
> considering how society and the birthrate is changing in modern times. And
> we might even evolve ourselves as our understanding of genetics advances.
> But, more or less, I wouldn't be surprised if adaptive evolution basically
> came to halt. And to clear, I'm not saying that we've achieved this state,
> but it certainly seems possible and perhaps likely in the near future.
>
> All the best,
> Ari Einbinder
>
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-- 

Lisa Jo Rudy
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Falmouth, MA
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