One has to define what "natural selection" is. On one hand, you have people who believe that natural selection is what would happen in the wild without man's interference. But I contend that's flawed reasoning. Man has influenced every part of the globe by his very existence (sorry to the women out there, I'm using the collective "man"), so who is to say what the earth would look like had man never existed?
We're trying to regulate fishing (hubby in the Coast Guard can attest to this), save the whales, find "extinct" species, save the rainforests, have created species like Catalina macaws and picasso clownfish, regulate our own propagation...
Where's the line?
Apparently there isn't one!!! Speaking for myself, "I'd like to see one drawn, and not crossed!" At least in the reef hobby. I need someone to explain to me how a person can "Re-create the natural beauty of a reef habitat" with creatures that do NOT occur in nature!?!!!
True "Natural Selection" ceased in humans long before recorded history began. Simple things like crutches and canes, Spears and Knives, made it possible for our ancestors to survive, when nature would have "culled" them. Has this been "Good" for our species as a whole? We'll never know. Once the line is crossed, there is no way to go back and check to see if it would have been 1) Better, 2) Worse, or 3) the same. Theories will come and go, but none of them can be proved or disproved. The development of anti-biotic medicines in the 20th century kept millions of humans alive (including myself) long past the time that infection/disease would have "culled" them. Is this better or worse for the species? Again, the line has been crossed, and there is no way of telling now. Are humans REALLY better off with a life span that is now 20 or more years longer on the average? Is it better to die from Pneumonia at age 32, or Cancer at age 72? Or a broken leg at 12? Or, Perhaps, Starvation at 12 days? There are no right, or wrong answers.
We as a group, by refusing to buy these specimens, Have a chance to draw, and hold, the line for reef species. I think that we should, obviously, others disagree.
I'l end my tirade now, as it's obvious to me that it's a situation where the thoughts of the many will prevail, and I will just have to get used to seeing "Picasso Clowns" for sale at my LFS.
Thanks to all for their input!
Regards,
Dean
I hope that they can find a way to survive when Aquariums are outlawed because they're "destroying"the worlds' Reefs! :smack: 
