Are We Still Evolving?

[Loddfafner]

There are still pressures of food, climate, and reproduction that will select for some genes more frequently than others. Just because modern medicine and family planning are a part of our environment, that basic fact of life does not change.

Some basic facts of biology:
Evolution is incremental and does not necessarily lead towards progress.

Populations with high birthrates and high mortality will evolve more rapidly. That kind of evolution may not necessarily be a good thing.

[Bloodeagle]

Gah! My point exactly!!

Got any good links or articles to share about this Sourdough? I'd love to read up on it.

Bionic people. Who knew we wouldn't be pretending to be Steve Austin or Jaime Summers one day.

I made that up, but I am certain that stranger things are in store for us.

[Aemma]

I made that up, but I am certain that stranger things are in store for us.

You made it up?

Dang you Sourdough!

[Curtis24]

Large populations in American cities are evolving so as to be able to digest 'meals' from McDonalds.

Hey, I like McDonald's

[Curtis24]

In seriousness though, the real question is *how* are we evolving? And obviously, different races and social classes are evolving in different directions...

If you're talking about middle-class to upper-class whites, in my opinion we will evolve to be more compassionate and group-oriented. This is because the self-absorbed amongst us will devote more to their careers and never have children; thus those of exceptional empathy and cooperativeness will be the ones to have children and pass their genes on.

[Breedingvariety]

In seriousness though, the real question is *how* are we evolving? And obviously, different races and social classes are evolving in different directions...

If you're talking about middle-class to upper-class whites, in my opinion we will evolve to be more compassionate and group-oriented. This is because the self-absorbed amongst us will devote more to their careers and never have children; thus those of exceptional empathy and cooperativeness will be the ones to have children and pass their genes on.

Question: how come there are self-absorbed people? Or is it that self-absorbed people will suddenly stop reproducing? If so, why?

[Loki]

Humanity is devolving. Evolution happens when different populations of the same species become isolated from each other, and then adapt to the environment they live in. What's happening now is the reverse, populations that before lived apart are now mixing together.

I don't think things are as simple and black-and-white as that. On the contrary, people of all races with the means tend to congregate in cities like London - where money/employment/social status are more deciding factors than race or ethnic origin. I've met some really bright people here from the darkest corners of Africa and Asia who are most definitely above-average intellectually than any given European population.

[Rouxinol]

We're still evolving, but conditioned by our modern world technologies, food supply, etc., of course.

By the way, I notice people here is getting taller generation after generation! I was born in 1984 and I'm 178 cm tall, my parents generation was smaller, like, 150-160 cm women and 160-170 cm men. I notice also that most of the individuals I know born after me are even taller than me, like >180 cm. Women, especially, are getting taller.

[Phil75231]

Evolution is simply changes in clade members over time. How we're changing now, and even have changed since the development of organized settle agricultural societies IS up for debate. But evolution always happens.

Also, evolution is not just about environmental pressures to develop certain traits - it's also as much about a lack of pressures against developing traits. A lot of needless confusion comes from ignoring the latter factor.

ADDED: While still on this subject, there's also a lot of debate about whether behavior is primarily natural or learned from society (i.e., the "nature vs nurture" debate). This is not likely to be settled for a long time, if ever. Me, I'd say it's about 70% cultural/environmental, 30% genetics. Genes may influence our behaviors or our responses to outside factors, but they are not rigid destiny.

[Grumpy Cat]

Unfortunately, humans have not evolved near as fast as our technology has. We are still built to be hunter-gatherers, not office workers. Hence why we still have the genetic predisposition to obesity and a hard-wired preference for fatty high calorie foods. This was key to survival in those times.

This is why we need exercise, because we're meant to run and catch supper, not open the fridge or go through the drive-thru and grab it.

It is possible, that we will evolve to accommodate our sedentary lifestyles eventually. Or maybe, the people who don't gain weight easily despite a high fat diet and sedentary lifestyle, or the people who don't like fatty foods - both technically genetic defects which would have meant certain death in those times - will have a reproductive advantage so the "normal" (or maybe archaic) human genes will eventually be phased out via natural selection.

But, if our technology ever fails us, the guy who eats junk everyday, never exercises, and never gains a pound, or the fussy eater who would normally choose a salad over a burger even when not doing it for health benefits (that's me, I've been like that since I was a kid and my parents thought I was weird for not liking junk and candy like "normal" kids) will die.