> Artificial selection may use the same mechanisms as natural selection, but it isn't the same.

> How is it different?  Humans are a natural species on this planet, and effect the ecological niche to which bees must adapt.

We have both been saying the same thing. Natural selection is not goal oriented, it's driven by the impetus to survive. In a sense, it is a battle against death of the species. Humans use selection for specific purposes, some of which are clearly motivated by the desire to survive (food crops) and others for sheer amusement (hybrid roses). The features of naturally selected species can almost always be attributed to some sort of functionality while the features of human selected species often have features which are opposed to survivability.

relevant quote

> Darwin’s recognition that the human manipulation of nature has unintended consequences, as we see in the domestic breeds that become increasingly unfit, has its own implications worthy of our notice. For us, as for Darwin, it may be important that human interventions, such as we see in artificial selection, typically have adverse effects on the organisms involved. 

> When reconstructing the evolutionary past, we are understandably more interested in the lineages that led to modern life, as we have a special interest in understanding the world as it is now. But this does not imply a preordained end or telos to evolution, nor that we must ignore the failures, the dead ends. We can try to reconstruct those lineages that ended in individual or mass extinction events.

Richards, R. A. (2014). Darwin’s experimentalism. Endeavour, 38(3-4), 235-245.

PLB

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