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zbentley • today at 12:14 AM • 0 replies • view on HN

I worked lambing/kidding season at a sheep and goat (wool) ranch for several years. It quickly disabused me of any notions that natural parenting processes are always or even mostly functional at the individual level.

Sure, selective breeding accounts for part of it, but so does the reality that evolution has tended to select (for many prey animals) for the ability to survive and reproduce a lot, not necessarily the ability to be a good parent.