Postnaturalism

Postnaturalism is the theory of the postnatural, a term coined to describe organisms that have been intentionally and heritably altered by humans. Postnaturalism is a cultural process whereby organisms are bred to satisfy a specific cultural purpose. It can be used to read these organisms, which serve as insights into our culture by reflecting desires and beliefs prevalent at the time of breeding. This has direct implications for the evolutionary path of these organisms, whittling down undesirable traits to leave only those culturally sought out. Postnaturalism argues that in so doing, humans have and continue to actively alter the evolutionary path of a postnatural organism to suit our cultural desires. The agricultural practice of monoculture, for instance, is just one example of postnatural organisms who have been bred to such an extent that the modern-day species look nothing like their pre-neolithic counterparts. The breeding of these species for this purpose can be seen to be reflected in notable diet changes during this period, which proliferated during ensuing sedentism and urbanisation.

Postnaturalism is a highly selective process. For every organism that has become used in our society, there are countless more that have remained non-postnatural for whatever reason ranging from a perceived lack of future use from them or traits that make them too difficult to farm. One such example is the golden orb-weaver spider which produces a strong, light and useful silk, however they are known to be cannibalistic and thus impossible to farm on a large scale.

Postnatural history is defined as the "study of the origins, habitats, and evolution of organisms that have been intentionally and heritably altered by humans", which serves as a "record of the influence of human culture on evolution". So termed to differentiate it from traditional natural history studies, it is the subject of a storefront in Pittsburgh, United States called the Center for PostNatural History, which builds on this concept to produce an array of displays of organisms which are all postnatural.

The commencement of the postnatural can be considered to date back to prehistoric civilisation's early interaction with wild species. Here, domestication occurred as a way of adapting the environment around prehistoric people to suit their needs and desires through a gradual process of refinement. Domestication succeeds through the heritable continuation of an organism's phenotype and genotype allowing each generation to continue on from their previous generation. In its simplest terms, domestication alters a species through survival to a change in habitat, food source, or other significant change. These changes can be sought for a variety of different reasons including physical attributes, behavioural characteristics, lifespan, and adaptability to a change in environment.

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