I have to agree with Slag for once- remember genetic evolution is a long term process, operating over many generations. The success of intelligence has been due to the fact that ideas (Dawkins' memes) can spread faster than adaptations (genes) because they can skip direct from one carrier to another.

And remember evolution is not progress- there's nothing in the rules that say it has to go towards intelligence, which in fact may be a bad idea. Both genes and memes, viewed as reproducers, look no further than the next generation*, even if the mutation that makes them successful also dooms them in a couple of generations' time. Perhaps the reason the aliens haven't visited us is that intelligence is inherently unstable, and almost always self- destructs.

In fact the original post is an example (if the parents don't have other children) of a meme- line destroying a gene- line, and perhaps damaging its own chance of replication in the process.


*In fact, they don't even look that far. They can't look at anything, as they are inanimate. All they do is exist. Extremely good at surviving, but completely without purpose, like New Labour politicians.