St. Francis College welcomed Christopher X J. Jensen, Ph.D.on December 11, 2015 for the talk: Highly-creative baby-breeding idea propagators: what human (re)productive choices mean for the future of our species.

Watch Christopher X J. Jensen on Breeding

"Evolutionary theory-which ought to apply equally well to all organisms, including humans-suggests that generations of natural selection should have honed our behaviors to optimally fit our environments. That is to say our inherited behaviors are expected to be adaptive: they should increase the probability that we will survive and reproduce in our environment, just as they enabled our progenitors to do the same. After all, if the behaviors you inherited from your ancestors had not allowed them to survive and reproduce, there would be no you! So how do we explain the characteristics of a person like Dean Potter, whose behaviors seemed maladaptive, decreasing rather than increasing his chances of survival? How would anyone ever inherit traits that would compel them to take such risks? Is Dean Potter an evolutionary paradox?" - Christopher X J. Jensen

Christopher X J. Jensen, Ph.D. is an associate professor of ecology and evolution, Pratt Institute. He comes to St. Francis College to present and discuss his work on a book in progress tentatively entitled Breeders, Propagators, & Creators.

The talk was presented by The Evolutionary Studies Collaborative at St. Francis College and Professor Gregory Tague.