Within species, dogs show reversed lifespan-size relationships (large dogs live shorter than small dogs) because artificial breeding has removed them from evolutionary optimization, violating the assumptions of the scaling theory that requires systems to have evolved under natural selection.

causalpending

Speaker

Jeffrey West

Evidence Quote

a wolf hound and a Pomeranian have not evolved by natural selection... they're not optimized

Source

Geoffrey West, The Simplicity, Unity and Complexity of Life | Natural Philosophy Forum Lecture, 2024Hopkins Natural Philosophy Forum
Created: 8/10/2026, 10:45:11 PM

My Notes

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