I'm new to this forum and have not had chance to read the pages and pages of subject on here, so sorry if this question has come up before!
I'm also relatively new to evolutionary theory, having completed an online course in human evolution a couple of years ago and just read my first Richard Dawkins book (The Blind Watchmaker).
And now to the point....
The question has occured to me a few times as to whether home sapien has now evolved to a point where we have effectively side stepped natural selection.
Our intelligence has reached a level where individually, and via society, we can overcome physical and mental limitations as individuals and pass on our genes in situations where, in nature, we may not be able to survive to the age of reproduction.
What are the implications of this moving forward? As we have stabalised in evolutionary terms (possibly a big assumption!) and can deal with changing environments etc, are we now outside of natural selection?
Further, what are the additional implications of being outside of the system of natural selection? Will minor mutations occur and survive due to society, and in particular medicine, ensuring survival and propogation?
I have other thoughts on this, but have probably said enough for now, and for all I know there may be ready answers out there!