Xref: utzoo sci.psychology:161 sci.bio:1052
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From: gcf@actnyc.UUCP (Gordon Fitch)
Newsgroups: sci.psychology,sci.bio
Subject: Re: Evolutionary factors in human psychology
Message-ID: <764@actnyc.UUCP>
Date: 1 Apr 88 15:43:25 GMT
References: <6107@watdragon.waterloo.edu> <1085@bingvaxu.cc.binghamton.edu>
Reply-To: gcf@actnyc.UUCP (Gordon Fitch)
Distribution: sci
Organization: InterACT Corporation
Lines: 18

In article <1085@bingvaxu.cc.binghamton.edu> vu0112@bingvaxu.cc.binghamton.edu (Cliff Joslyn) writes:
>In article <6107@watdragon.waterloo.edu> kmgopinathan@violet.waterloo.edu (Krishna Gopinathan) writes:
>>If we model evolution as an incredibly long tournament of genes (mixed
>>n-tuples style), with mutations thrown in to make it interesting, then
>>the existence of almost every human genetic characteristic can be
>>explained by the survival advantage it gave to evolving man.  
>
>Well, it depends on how many mutations are neutral.  Selection preserves
>both favorable and neutral mutations.

I would think that there would be almost no neutral mutations at all.
If a mutation were otherwise neutral, i.e. noise, it would take up
room in limited genetic space (it must be limited, or "higher" species
would have indefinitely many genes.)  So "neutral" genes would be at
least moderately negative when the cost of storing and processing 
the information was thrown in, and would be eliminated before long.  
At least, this is what the system administrators force me to do to 
my precious files.