Your hypothesis assumes that there would be some point to having a smarter or better looking average person. What would it be? Where is your uber society going? In my mind the only real 'point' of people at all is just to procreate and dumb ugly people seem to do that just fine.
Also a good point. But I would argue Nature and Nurture are equal. Even with a huge amount of nurture, we would never be as big as an elephant, which is big by nature. On the other hand, with good nurturing, the lifespan of a human has increased nearly twofold, and become stronger, smarter. So I'd say both are necessary but only one of them can be passed down definitely. Think of it this way, when you see a golden retriever you will likely see a kind, caring dog. When you see a pit bull, you may see a friendly dog, but he also is much more likely to be aggressive and hurt you. Genetics play a huge role in a person's behavior as well.
Another good point. Philosophically, should we strive for progress? Or, even better, what is progress? Perhaps organisms are just big reproduction machines that reproduce until they reach a limit or die off. As humans with intelligence, should we strive for a greater goal because we understand it, or should we just live for ourselves? Where's the balance? Where do we draw the line? My own opinion is that we should live for ourselves, in that we provide the basic necessities we need such as money to buy food, clothes, and shelter. After that, I believe the rest of our energy should be used to maintain happiness of those around us. I believe being considerate is a behavior that multiplies in benefit as more and more people act in that way. Basically, everyone can win by being kind to one another. Being selfish is also a behavior that multiplies and the rewards are less since only few benefit. Not everyone benefits and negative emotions ensues. To tie this in with the thread, I will say that behavior is also encoded in our genes. Obvoiusly, nurture is also a large part of behavior as well. That is why it is evident that if people don't have the time or resources to take care of their many children, they should have fewer.
Hey, if there were enough really dumb people in the world they would revere even an average guy like me as a god... but wait, maybe then they would hold me responsible for their miserable fate, even though I didn't do anything but just let them procreate. But if I were smart enough I could convince them it was someone else's fault. Brownie, your doing a heck of a job!
