Quote Originally Posted by jandajoy View Post
This is because cell divisions in males increase with age. “Every time there is a cell division, there is a chance of a mistake, a mutation, an error,” he said. “For a 29-year old father [the mean age of reproduction in the West] there are around 300 divisions between the sperm that made him and the one he passes on – each one with an opportunity to make mistakes.
“For a 50-year-old father, the figure is well over a thousand. A drop in the number of older fathers will thus have a major effect on the rate of mutation.”
Professor Jones added: “In the old days, you would find one powerful man having hundreds of children.” He cites the fecund Moulay Ismail of Morocco, who died in the 18th century, and is reputed to have fathered 888 children. To achieve this feat, Ismail is thought to have copulated with an average of about 1.2 women a day over 60 years.
Apparently a smart bloke - but off his trolley here. That argument just does not hold water. The majority of 'human evolution" occurred when people were lucky to live to 30 -which completely blows his argument away. (and on edit - citing something that happened in the 18 century in an 'evolution" discussion is just purely stupid).

On the natural selection side, he has a wee bit more of a point - but not much more. We do not know how "fitness" in the future will be judged by evolution.