Would you expect natural selection to ever result in increases in neutral or detrimental traits? Why or why not?
Natural selection typically results in increases in beneficial traits that provide an advantage to an organism in its environment. Neutral traits, which do not confer any advantage or disadvantage, may not necessarily be selected for or against as they do not impact an organism's survival or reproduction. Similarly, detrimental traits that decrease an organism's fitness are typically selected against and are less likely to increase in a population over time.
However, there are some contexts in which neutral or detrimental traits may increase in a population. For example, neutral traits may become linked to beneficial traits through genetic linkage, causing them to increase in frequency in a population. Additionally, detrimental traits may persist in a population if they are not strongly selected against or if they are inherited together with beneficial traits in a trade-off scenario.
Overall, natural selection is driven by the differential survival and reproduction of individuals with certain traits, so the outcome of selection ultimately depends on the specific circumstances and selective pressures at play.