Our craving for bad food as evidence for the fall

[mkprr]

Steve had a caller yesterday that noted that we crave food that is unhealthy, and asked if this could be used as evidence against evolution and support the creation/fall theory.

I don't think it would be a fruitful argument just because if anything, I think the concept supports evolution more than creation (I believe we have been micro evolving since the fall anyway and that our genetic code is quite able to adapt in order to survive so for me it is sort of a moot point but it won't help in an argument against a naturalist)

Here is a simplified argument for how this phenomenon supports evolution

In the wild high calorie and sugary foods are extremely rare but they provide lots of store-able energy. For thousands of years these kinds of foods have been difficult to come by. Our bodies have evolved a desire to eat these foods because we have very rarely had access to them and it was in our best interest to eat them whenever we could. Our bodies haven't had time to adjust to the relatively new phenomenon of easy access to sugary fatty foods. Wait another thousand years perhaps, and things might change. Humans eat far more food than their bodies need to operate. When you don't know when you will be able to eat next, it is in your best interest to eat as much as possible, but when you are as capable as we are, and are living in peaceful plentiful times, (something that has been comparatively very rare in the animal kingdom and throughout the history of mankind) it is not wise to eat as much as you can. Our bodily urges are still in animal survival mode and haven't realized that society has made life so easy for us.

I would also point out, contrary to what was discussed in yesterdays show, animals that have similar digestive systems to humans (omnivorous mammals) typically do like our high processed fatty and sugary foods. most of these foods are ok for them and give them needed calories if they eat them sparingly. This is why when you go camping, even in the middle of nowhere, you need to put your food up at night.

[steve]

Good observations!

[Paidion]

I didn't hear the program, but my initial inclination leans toward the caller's theory. In general more people in the U.S.A. and Canada are becoming obese, and are thus more prone to arterial blockage, heart problems, and other health issues resulting from obesity. Surely this does not contribute to the survival of the human race, but rather to its destruction.

[Ian]

Is it not the case though, mkprr, that there`s a major psychological component in this: people reach for bad foods (especially binge eaters, bulemics etc) when in a state of high agitation. And agitation/anxiety are surely symptons of a man out of sync with things since the Fall.
When people reach for foods when in this mindset, they don`t tend to crave apples and brocolli.

[TK]

Paidion wrote:

I didn't hear the program, but my initial inclination leans toward the caller's theory. In general more people in the U.S.A. and Canada are becoming obese, and are thus more prone to arterial blockage, heart problems, and other health issues resulting from obesity. Surely this does not contribute to the survival of the human race, but rather to its destruction.

Yes, but as mkprr pointed out, there hasn't been time for the "obese" and otherwise unhealthy people to have been "selected out" by natural selection because junk food is a relatively new thing. In other words, perhaps in a few thousand years, if we tarry that long, most people won't crave junk food because they are now genetically indisposed to desire same. Or else we will be able to take a pill that counteracts all effects of junk food, which may be more likely.

TK

[mkprr]

I guess my main point is that if we use this as evidence against evolution, I don't think it will be very effective for people who spend a lot of time thinking about naturalistic explanations for life. I can see how it fits well in a creation/fall theory which I adhere to but the phenomenon seems to fit equally as well into a purely naturalistic argument.

[mkprr]

In general more people in the U.S.A. and Canada are becoming obese, and are thus more prone to arterial blockage, heart problems, and other health issues resulting from obesity. Surely this does not contribute to the survival of the human race, but rather to its destruction.

This is of course true, but we wouldn't expect evolution to select out the obese overeaters very quickly. For one, most people who die of heart disease still live long enough to reproduce and raise their children for at least a few years. Second, the easy access to food, safety and comfort that we enjoy in the US and Canada is, from an old earth evolutionary view point, a very recent phenomenon.