800th post!!!!!

the secret superiority of pigeons


I grew up in the suburbs, and in all honesty, I didn't have any real contact with pigeons on a somewhat regular basis until I moved to San Francisco. Sure, outside of urban areas you can find them outside just as you can find any common rural/urban animal such as squirrels, ants, cockroaches, black birds, or seagulls; since suburban areas provide a much larger environment, you don't see pigeons every time you leave your house. Although I don't see them or notice them on a daily basis even in San Francisco, it's impossible to ignore the obvious fact that I've noticed observable changes in populations over short time I've lived in San Francisco (thesis).

I'm amazed to think of what these animals consume to actually survive. I've seen them eating vomit from bums (which is probably composed of a mix of hard drugs, booze, and fast food- seems like the only shit bums can afford in the first place). One can find them both in really urban areas made almost exclusively made of concrete with just small patched of green and trees here and there (island biogeography). So, to make a long story short, they can basically east just about anything, and live just about anywhere. Amazing. Because of these facts, pigeons demonstrate super hardiness. They might have not been so well adapted in the past, and the species might not always be so well adapted in the future, but their current evolutionary state makes them potentially really valuable to science. They've been able to somehow ward of the rapid evolution of bacteria and viruses, the elements, climate change, as well as evolve their metabolism to metabolize matter that several generations ago, did not exist in the present and omnipresent "golden age of processed foods."


In short, pigeons are demonstrating rapid evolution, unlike the current state of the human species. I know, because I've noticed changes in species that are taking place in front of my very eyes. Even though I absolutely despise pigeons, I am inspired by the fact that this form of life, although ruthless and in many ways primordial, is so strong that it just won't disappear. The hard life of a pigeon insures that only the best most relevant genes will be passed to the future generations, and on a superficial level, one can observe lots more "salt and pepper" pigeons sprouting up, in addition to reddish/brownish ones, and the new and unique all black pigeon.

In humans, inferior genes are passed to future generations in frequencies unheard of throughout the evolutionary history of the species. Modern medicine, modern convenience, and modern technology has made it possible for just about anyone to survive, in spite of the fate written into their genes, so humans are no longer a good model for evolution, in a sense we have taken control of our evolution, and decided as a species to allow inferior genes to have a permanent place in the gene pool.