Evolution, Have we stoped it?

[Epyon94]

If Darwin's theory of natural selection holds true, then hasn't humanity kind of stoped the prosses of evolution? I mean with all the diversity of the human race, doesn't natural selection not really appy to us anymore? Back in the day if you didn't have what it took to survive you'd simply die. But now you could procure the nessecary items to survive.
So what do you think? Keep in mind that this only applies to the human race.

[Aka]

we didn't stop the Evolution.

Well now it depends on if you only think of the development of the humans or of all other animals on the world.

because evolution is everywhere, also in places where is much industry.
animals are not included in the "stop" of the evolution in my opinion.

About the human people ^^. I think the selection thing has stopped mostly, but there is still some natural evolution. In Africa there survive more people with a different blood-style (some desease I don'T know its name yet) the malaria desease then people with normal blood.

So if there are places where the nature is still dominating like in Africa the evolution is still going, and perhaps there will be the first human race which will be immun against AIDS, who knows.

[Epyon94]

Good point, however I would just like to clarify that I'm talking about the biological evolution of humans.

[Kodoku]

Humans are devolving. Any genetic flaws and weaknesses are being passed down and spread out due to the lack of death. This means we will have to rely more on technology to stop us dieing. Therefore making us weaker. I think you get the idea. Its called a slippy slope.

The only way we could bring back natural selection is throw out a load of our technology. However this would kill hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people.

[Tokoyami]

I think humans are nearly seperate from evolution now. There is no natural selection for us anymore.(expect for those who live in SOME parts of africa). I think if anything, the only way we are evolving is mentally, not physically.

[Fect]

1) That was a very annoying comment "(except for...)"

2) Evolution hasn't stopped- Evolution takes several hundreds of thousands of years and you all are saying that we haven't changed. So what? We will change, and technology can't stop it. Unless we go into a future not so far from "Ghost in the Shell" we can't stop it. Stopping Evolution is like stopping (what man calls) time. You can't prevent evolution.

3) Mental Evolution: No. We aren't any more intelligent than we were two thousand years ago. We just have shiny cars and electronics to surround ourselves with.

4) More Natural Selection: Yes. Natural Selection (NS) doesn't just include "strong vs. weak" but that certain genes take precidence over others. This presidence only takes place due to enviornment(s). As far as I'm concerned, we will live in an ever changing enviornment and thus will always have natural selection.

Humans are devolving. Any genetic flaws and weaknesses are being passed down and spread out due to the lack of death. This means we will have to rely more on technology to stop us dieing. Therefore making us weaker. I think you get the idea. Its called a slippy slope.

The only way we could bring back natural selection is throw out a load of our technology. However this would kill hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people.


1) Population Bomb. Enof' Said.

2) As explained above, natural selection is not just the "strong vs. weak" but what gene is best for this enviornment. We don't have to throw out tech to "get it back."

[ssjharsh]

Evolution is only a macro term for natural selection, so it only comes into play when there is a need. In a society where the able take care of the disabled, the old, and the young, few will die off. Therefore, society has sort of taken away natural selection, and therefore removed the chance for evolution. It still exists as a process, but humans simply do not allow for that process to occur. If you were to strand a bunch of people on an isolated island, and then check back a few generations later, you may see some differences between those people and the people who mixed freely with other gene pools.

[Thing]

GAH! their's no such thing as (example) ape to human evolution!

[Kyouka Suigetsu]

Humanity's evolution haven't stopped because of our actions. Just one example is our inability to digest uncooked meat. This occured as our ancestors preferrence for prepared food grew and eventually spread. While it means we normally can't eat food raw it also means that we don't need to spend as much time digesting. These adapations are fine for our current lifestyles, but I wonder what might happen if we lose our technology in some war or cataclysm.

[ssjharsh]

Humanity's evolution haven't stopped because of our actions. Just one example is our inability to digest uncooked meat. This occured as our ancestors preferrence for prepared food grew and eventually spread. While it means we normally can't eat food raw it also means that we don't need to spend as much time digesting. These adapations are fine for our current lifestyles, but I wonder what might happen if we lose our technology in some war or cataclysm.

we'd be screwd

[Baron]

Evolution.. have we stopped it? Nah.

Evolution... have we slowed it down a bit? Possibly.

We have many ways, using technology and modern inventions, that protect people from doing silly things that would cost them their lives. Back in the days, when Mr. and Mrs. Caveman existed, they didn't have those "barriers" to protect them, so if they did something silly that cost them their lives, they're pretty much screwed. And the stronger and smarter survive. Evolving, to me, is simply the passing of these stronger and smarter skills one generation gains from their lifetime and then, passed to the next generation.

Nowadays, with the protection of technology, one really needs not to learn how to survive like how the cave folk did; one simply needs to learn how to provide for oneself ... by making money.

Well, that's my theory. Whether you want to add to it, or simply shoot it down, is fine either way. I might learn something new.

Well, back to the Randomness thread I go. :D

[Fect]

The thing is that NS is something that will even out in time. If it is going rather slow for X amt of time, then it will go quickly for the same amount of time.

[Epyon94]

Those are all interesting ideas, so here's mine. While we have stopped the, umm.. I call it "Racial Evolution" for lack of a better term, It means that the human race has stopped evolving in one specific direcetion, I believe that eventually humans will evolve into varrious sub-races of Humanity, if you will, the differences bring larger than they are today, today's difference being the color of skin, hair, and such. For example, one group may have evolved wings, while another may have gills. Now this may not be for another few thousand years but I think that it has a good chance of happening, if we stay on our persent evolutionary course, all assumeing that we don't blow up the world or something like that.
On the note of Modern Day Sub-Races I'm not trying to be racist in anyway, I believe that all types of human life are esenually the same. A modern-Day sub-race would be like, Asians, Africans, Europeans, any different society that, for the most part, shares the same genetic background with the rest of humanity. This includes all human life for further note.

[HallowDude]

i think evolution slowed down, but it hasnt stopped + evolution change through time, which is on a long term of millions of years, so far the furthest evolution of human kind only lived for about 3000 years the evolution before us had millions of years :biggthump

[xekuhz]

i agree that evolution probably slowed down a bit. nowadays i guess its more about mental strength than physicall. because if you get realy sick as long as you have the money you can survive right. and it takes brains to get a job to make lots of money and so on. so maybe it's kind of twisting natural selection into something more of a phsycological evolution going on... or something along thoes lines

[Fect]

Evolution is measured in hundreds of thousands of years. Human History has only been around for 5 millenia.

[Zattara2222]

Evolution is measured in hundreds of thousands of years. Human History has only been around for 5 millenia.


Very good point.

[Sunfire249]

Nope. I seriously doubt that. Human evolution can never fully stop... Maybe slow to quite an extraordinary amount but I doubt that it can ever actually slow down to the point it stops. I mean, look at all the technology we have now! And we're coming up with even more and... with that comes more knowledge of the materialistic world, which means you have to learn more in school which means more intellectual people growing up which then creates a new stage of evolution... If that makes sense.

[SLVR]

The only way I can put it is The smart evolve the dumb dont

[HallowDude]

not really... smart evolves slower
animals evolve faster if u notice like how the t rex becomes a chicken =P
like all animals we will go extinced some day

[Fect]

Smart does not evolve slower.

We all evolve at the same rate- whatever gene is best adapted to our enviornment gets passed on.

And besides:

Evolution is measured in hundreds of thousands of years. Human History has only been around for 5 millenia.

[SLVR]

not really... smart evolves slower
animals evolve faster if u notice like how the t rex becomes a chicken =P
like all animals we will go extinced some day
How do te Dumb evolve when hey stay the Same? Ever heard the sayin the rich keep gettin richer the poorer keep getin poorer? I think the Same implies for evolution. Replace the Rich with the smart and the poor with tha dumb

[Silfrsyn]

I believe we're still evolving at the same rate as any other being, it's just since it's our perspective, it just looks like everything outside us is going faster and also our methods of evolving are probably different.

[duncandun]

If Darwin's theory of natural selection holds true, then hasn't humanity kind of stoped the prosses of evolution? I mean with all the diversity of the human race, doesn't natural selection not really appy to us anymore? Back in the day if you didn't have what it took to survive you'd simply die. But now you could procure the nessecary items to survive.
So what do you think? Keep in mind that this only applies to the human race.


humans evolve every generation. Somthing mutates, changes. Might not know it, but it did. Thats how evolution goes.

[Daeruke]

evoulution will only happen if we r needed to adapt. we can live in these conditions right now. so it is not happening. it has not stoped but it has been paused

[Shaehl]

humans evolve every generation. Somthing mutates, changes. Might not know it, but it did. Thats how evolution goes.

Most people I have noticed are talking more about adaptation, not evolution. At least, not evolution in the "fish becomes a bird" sense. I think we can all agree that the amount of presence certain genes and features our species has will continue shift with the passing of time, regardless of what technology we have (unless we end up using clones as a replacement for the natural way of things). But even if you do believe in evolution, I don't think we will be experiencing any significant changes in our genetic makeup. Personally, I take the whole evolution thing with a grain of salt, but even if I was completely assured of its validity, I don't see what benefit humanity would gain from mutating into another species... Of course, the supposed evolution of apes into humans doesn't really make sense either.

[akin_t]

Humans don't evolve, that's why we die in natural disasters. I mean if evolution was what it was cracked up to be why didn't the tsunami victims develop gills? I know your answer: it's a gradual process. Well sorry to burst your bubble but besides finding the skeletons of monkeys that supposedly resemble humans, there's no proof of evolution whatsoever.

Darwin was a brilliant biologist, but just because he was brilliant doesn't make him right always. His evolution theory is flawed in many ways but the blind admiration for the man wouldn't let people see it.

[Fect]

Just wondering: Do you believe in Intelligent Design?

[Epyon94]

Ya I was wondering the same thing all most of the posts above sound like the people that wrote them believe in Intellegent Design. I would like to remind you that this thread is about the evolution of the Human race, and has nothing to do with intelligent design. thank you for your time.

[akin_t]

Intelligent design is just the story of creation watered down and mixed with some science talk so that it might be accepted in the world of academics. People that believe in ID are mostly christians who are afraid to stand up for what they believe in, thier fear of being chastized has made them cook up this ID theory. IMO they should go ahead and teach Evolution in schools; after all, Darwin was a scientist, so his flawed theory is academic ... I guess. In any case, it just takes a little reasoning to realize that Darwin was full of bull too.

I was taught Evolution in school, but I don't believe in it because it just doesn't make any sense; moreover, I'm a christian and believe that God created every living thing.

[Shaehl]

Ya I was wondering the same thing all most of the posts above sound like the people that wrote them believe in Intellegent Design. I would like to remind you that this thread is about the evolution of the Human race, and has nothing to do with intelligent design. thank you for your time.

No need to get snippy, there was actually only one post before yours that actually mentioned ID or strayed even remotely off topic. If ID or any other theory can contribute to the discussion, why shouldn't we mention it? Personally, I believe that evolution will not progress any further, because it doesn't exist.

[tednfs]

No we havent
A simple argument
How do u explain the story of the appendix? We no longer need it and being very small.
How do u explain the zygote at the 8th stage initiially looks similar to a tadpole?
This is evolution. Therefore evolution is taking differnt paths
How do u explain the fact that sickle cell is more prominent in Africans? Is it not to compensate for malaria? If I were homozygous, then it would be bad. Heterozygous would be better. The incidence of white people having this disease is more than black people.
Is this not evolution?
Then how could we have stopped it
And yet it takes years

[Shaehl]

Ancient astrologists thought the stars looked like animals, but it doesn't mean they are.

All the other things you listed are just examples of natural selection, which is similar, yet distinctly different from evolution as it is currently defined. No one is arguing against the basic natural selection process, but what I think the OP was getting at is, do you think humans are going to evolve into a distinctly different species in the future?

[Rabid_Wolverine]

No humanity has not stopped evolution. WE're just messins up the world that's all. We still need to be able to digest fibre and turn it into energy. We still need to be able turn CO2 into food and oxygen because only plants can do that and we also need to be able to turn nitrogen in the air into nitrates and use them somehow. All these things and more will gradually be accesible in the distant future, hopefully before the world ends anyway.

[sharkskin]

Not yet, compare our lifespans to our ancestor's lifespans 300 years ago.

[Shaehl]

Not yet, compare our lifespans to our ancestor's lifespans 300 years ago.

How is that related to anything? People 300 years ago lived in chaotic squalor compared to the lives most prominent nations lead nowadays.

[Tokoyami]

Not yet, compare our lifespans to our ancestor's lifespans 300 years ago.

um the only reason we live longer now is because we have better hygene and medical technology. Not because of our genes.

EDIT: o yea, and because we dont chop our arms off because we got shot in them.

[tednfs]

Ancient astrologists thought the stars looked like animals, but it doesn't mean they are.

All the other things you listed are just examples of natural selection, which is similar, yet distinctly different from evolution as it is currently defined. No one is arguing against the basic natural selection process, but what I think the OP was getting at is, do you think humans are going to evolve into a distinctly different species in the future?

Changing to a completely different speices at the moment does not seem quite likely. Unless a crisis really messes with us. However, Appleseed, dont know if u have seen it, had a form of evolution which seemed plausible.That is if there were a mixing between the two races. But we the homo sapiens( or homo sapiens sapiens) will not unless something drastic occurs. Presently we have no need. Therefore one can say we have slowed it down but not significantly. Personally what do you think? And what is the current definition of evolution that you go by?

[Shaehl]

I think the version of evolution that scientists and the like are trying hardest to propogate is the theory that, given enough time, an organism can evolve into a completely different organism. Like a Dinosaur into a bird. Personally, I don't believe it at all, but that's just me.

[akin_t]

I think the version of evolution that scientists and the like are trying hardest to propogate is the theory that, given enough time, an organism can evolve into a completely different organism. Like a Dinosaur into a bird. Personally, I don't believe it at all, but that's just me.

I agree with you, it is not possible. Humans can not attain gills, we cannot attain wings, it would be infinitely inane to even think otherwise. Our anatomy just doesn't give room for it.

[Aka]

do you know that the wings and our arms are homolog (if this is the name in englisch)

ah got it homologous

they have the same plan for building ,and there for the same bones just in another using and growing part, and we also don'T have to forget the muscles they are using to fly

[akin_t]

do you know that the wings and our arms are homolog (if this is the name in englisch)

ah got it homologous

they have the same plan for building ,and there for the same bones just in another using and growing part, and we also don'T have to forget the muscles they are using to fly

.... Please think about what you're saying, you honestly think that one day you may grow wings and start flying, or if you stay underwater long enough you'll develop gills? This is real life, things like that don't happen ... on my side of the world anyway.

[FascionViktem5k]

perhaps we slowed down the process of evolution? like that organ that we don't need .. what was it? appendix? .... i think it was the appendix.. it does nothing for us (except get infected and hurts like hell) why haven't we evolved to like.. get rid of it or something?! lol!

[Aka]

.... Please think about what you're saying, you honestly think that one day you may grow wings and start flying, or if you stay underwater long enough you'll develop gills? This is real life, things like that don't happen ... on my side of the world anyway.


I don'T think, that I can have tomorrow (or ever in my life) wings, but it's possible for the future people that they can have some, because the building-plan of the wings of the birds are nearly the same as our arms and hands.
that's the thing. so if evolution is going on, there can be mutation chance to that

[akin_t]

I don'T think, that I can have tomorrow (or ever in my life) wings, but it's possible for the future people that they can have some, because the building-plan of the wings of the birds are nearly the same as our arms and hands.
that's the thing. so if evolution is going on, there can be mutation chance to that

Oh please, we have remained the same for how long now? people in mesopotamia (5000BC I think) and people now are not different at all; we have not undergone the "slightest" change for years, none at all. What proof is there that humans can even evolve? we haven't undergone any evolution, since we became man. I think darwin just rushed his theory, it is very flawed.

[Aka]

where do you know if we are not different in the people of 5000 years. perhaps we look the same, but we have better eyes, or better taste or we can think better now?
you only look to the phenotyp of the human, but not to it's genes.
Genes can easly change (ok not that easy but you know how I mean it)

you also have to see that the people in the past started to kill "weirdos". Therefore the evolution can be stopped too.

[Shaehl]

Not all cultures are the same, regardless it wouldn't have a significant affect on anything. As for the "changes" you mentioned, those are all due to circumstance. Better techonology, better living standards, of course people are going to be more healthy. And how do you know that we are smarter now? We have an extremely large collection of knowledge that is easily accessible to most of the world, but it was the people of the past who first made these discoveries and revelations. Knowledge and intelligence are different things, humanity as a whole has just as much capacity for intelligence as it did in the beginning. Due to already existing stores of information, we can expand our base of knowledge much faster. That is the only reason it appears that the modern human is more intelligent.

Scientifically though, evolution is impossible. Our genetic code has built in barriers that prevent any change that would go beyond them. The only way for a human to gain another limb, wings, or something equally absurd would be for an outside force to directly distort, modify or remove those boundaries. The only thing I can think of that would do this is heavy radiation or genetic engineering. Regardless, it wouldn't happen naturally.

Besides, if all the species of the earth came from the same thing, why are there so many species? Why wouldn't the first single cell organisms just all evolved into one creature with differences only in areas with a different environment? Even if you say that they would have evolved into many different organisms, why aren't their multiple, distinctly different species of humans? It's the same scenario right? Apes supposedly evolved into humans, by why didn't they act like the first organisms and evolve into many different species of humans?

[FascionViktem5k]

Apes supposedly evolved into humans, by why didn't they act like the first organisms and evolve into many different species of humans?

you mean like Jaguars, Cheetahs, Lions, Lynxs and all those other animals that are part of the cat family right? something along the lines of that? perhaps there were but we just killed them all? or we're so unique there can be only one species of us? or maybe asians, africans, europeans and all that are.. ok no j/k! i'll stop that thought.. that was just dumb... wow...

what about the Appendix?!?! why can't we evolve and remove it?!?! it serves no purpose!!! and we've had it... for quite some time...

you know what i think? i think in the future all humans will be dark skinned, have eyes like chinese people, and be really really really tall!!! and also live to be about 200.... although that's not evolving... whatever.... monkey!!!

[Ritam]

you know what i think? i think in the future all humans will be dark skinned, have eyes like chinese people, and be really really really tall!!! and also live to be about 200.... although that's not evolving... whatever.... monkey!!!
.....this is a serious topic...no need for ur randomness Fascion....

anyways....in my opinion...the evolution chain will continue on in every species of life on this planet...whether it me fish, mammals, birds, reptiles or amphibians, they will all evolve into something bigger and stronger making it more adaptible to the fast changing climate here on earth

[Purokku-kun]

Apes supposedly evolved into humans, by why didn't they act like the first organisms and evolve into many different species of humans? I just happened to watch a documentary on this, and I think you'll find that evidence (http://www.archaeologyinfo.com/species.htm)
is surfacing that the "common ancestor" did indeed spawn other branches on the family tree, not just us (Neanderthals, anyone?) - homo sapiens just happened to be the most successful off-shoot.

And as for the "scientific" argument, I agree that no further change is possible at this time, but the point about evolution seems to have been missed - that it occurs to fulfil an overwhelming need for survival due to massive environmental change (think of the comet that killed off the dinosaurs).

All it would take is for the climate to change by a few degrees to cause massive extinctions, as species have adapted to their environments in such a way, that this could be devestating - I'm not one of these bleeding hearts going on about global warming necessarily, but this is just one of the many consequences.

The surviving species would then benefit from having "more room" to move in, and would be able to exploit the new opportunities this would provide, and find their own niches. Over tens of thousands of years.

Just because you jump off a building, doesn't mean you'll sprout wings. Though such inbred stupidity surely deserves to be weeded out of the population...

[akin_t]

I still find it funny that despite what shaehl has said some still argue with him. You have no case really, I mean evolution is impossible, we cannot just develop something like a third leg, or a third eye. It's just not going to happen. Once a human is born his features develop (like eyesight, hearing, thinking) but we do not completely get new ones. I doubt it'll ever take place.

[Shinomori]

Evolution occurs over HUGE peroids of time. Think millions of years. Just because we haven't changed significantly over the last few thousands doesn't mean we've stopped.

Oh, and resistance to a disease is considered evolution. There's so many resistances that have been build up....diseases no one's even HEARD of. That's because it's natural for a body to have an immunity. Why? Because we've evolved.

[Aka]

yeah, I agre with Shinomori.
And there was an example in the history:

when the Europeans landed for the first time on America, they brought an disease to them, which killed many thousand people. (measels it was, I think, but I don't know very well)

[Shinomori]

Measles, malaria, even smallpox to a lesser extent. The Europeans had been exposed to it, so they had evolved and formed an immunity. The diseases were new to Native Americans, so they were killed in mass quantities as a result.

[Purokku-kun]

Measles, malaria, even smallpox to a lesser extent. The Europeans had been exposed to it, so they had evolved and formed an immunity. The diseases were new to Native Americans, so they were killed in mass quantities as a result.
..while diseases themselves evolve to be resistant to the medication which we invent to combat them. "Life finds a way."

[Kooy]

No we haven't stopped evolving, because if we hadn't what about the people who are naturally smart from birth? It couldn't be hereditary since your parents had to learn all this. Basically what i am saying is that we won't stop evolving since this world need adaptations to certain environments and other adaptations. If we didn't evolve some diseases that are immunized now from birth are no longer a threat. You are even evolving now but you jsut can't realize it in a way thats very lifechanging

[Dark Fire]

if we humans stoped evolving we would die because the world is always changeing even if we don't physically evolve it doesn't mean that we aren't mentally evolving we make invention/technology to compensate for are slowly evolving bodies

[tednfs]

Another thing which i have forgotten the specific name is:
a disease/diseases continue evolving to wipe us out. A portion of our population dies and the others become immune to it. One can say all modern Pure Europeans are descedants of those immune to the black plague(personally that name is racial..the skin turned black nonsense). In theory there is one person or more in this world that is immune to contracting AIDS. So, we haven't stopped it

[Purokku-kun]

Besides, our sub-species has only been around for the last 30 thousand years or so - hardly a fraction of time in evolutionary terms.

[FascionViktem5k]

but even if it has been only a fraction of time in evolutionary terms as you say.. we should see some evidence of evolution taking place.. of course in very small scales but still happening.. and it doesn't seem to be happening that much.. instead all i see is more people getting allergic to everything... even bread.. that's not a good evolution.. that's a bad one... what animal other than us is allergic? honestly... and still no one answers my question about the appendix... we don't need this unnecessary organ yet we still have it.. there has been no evolution to get rid of it... so why do we still have it? perhaps evolution HAS stopped... of course ppl are only going to ignore me once again.. oh well..

[akin_t]

but even if it has been only a fraction of time in evolutionary terms as you say.. we should see some evidence of evolution taking place.. of course in very small scales but still happening.. and it doesn't seem to be happening that much.. instead all i see is more people getting allergic to everything... even bread.. that's not a good evolution.. that's a bad one... what animal other than us is allergic? honestly... and still no one answers my question about the appendix... we don't need this unnecessary organ yet we still have it.. there has been no evolution to get rid of it... so why do we still have it? perhaps evolution HAS stopped... of course ppl are only going to ignore me once again.. oh well..

Yeah I agree with fascion, there is no tiny evidence that we are still evolving ... I'm aware that the absence of evidence isn't the evidence of absence ... but c'mon, Darwin said evolution was continous didn't he? Where did it go for the past 2000 years?

The appendix hasn't evolved to get rid of itself, so why are people still arguing that evolution takes place. I mean since man was man this organ was not neccesary, why then do we still have it?

Is there some reason why evolution doesn't take place in the appendix, or is it just that there's no such thing as evolution?

[Vineshi - Miura]

There is no end to evolution, evolution is just the adaption of ones enviorment. We as humans are always evolving, new technological advances, new medicine, that counts as evolution. Evolution isn't just webbed feet or wings instead of arms, as long as we continue to live as the human race we are constantly evolving.

[Urasai]

Yeah I agree with fascion, there is no tiny evidence that we are still evolving ... I'm aware that the absence of evidence isn't the evidence of absence ... but c'mon, Darwin said evolution was continous didn't he? Where did it go for the past 2000 years?

The appendix hasn't evolved to get rid of itself, so why are people still arguing that evolution takes place. I mean since man was man this organ was not neccesary, why then do we still have it?

Is there some reason why evolution doesn't take place in the appendix, or is it just that there's no such thing as evolution?

well the thing is, humans used their brains to create so many things. Technology advances each day and replaces many of the things that we would've used our bodies for.

Things that humans cannot do, suppose flying, are made possibly with inventions like the airplane. We are not evolving biologically as noticeably as other animals simply because we have no need to. From what we know, the appendix is useless, but it also does not harm us, and thus it was "left alone" so to speak.

By using technology to solve our problems, our bodies are no longer required to adapt themselves to the environment anymore, and therefore could explain the lack of "evolutionizing" of humans in the past till now.

[Fect]

This is not entirely true, however. As the physical demand dies off and is replaced with genes for "intelligence" (which I personally think is a mistake to use as a word), we are changing to adapt to a new enviornment. One where physical labor is nonexistant and our brain is the only worthwhile part to us...

[Shaehl]

People keep saying things about how creatures evolve in response to their einvironment. For instance, ice age comes and all animals grow heavy fur or something like that. At the same time, the same people are trying to make the argument that evolution takes hundreds of thousands to millions of years. Am I the only one that sees the inconsistancy? How can a species evolve in response to a need presented by the environment when it takes them a ridiculous amount of time to do so? Lets say the world floods or becomes extremely swampy due to rising water levels, in theory, animals would have to evolve all sorts of features that suit them better for such an environment. But according to what I have heard, by the time any significant progress is actually made, those species could very well be in an ice age, making the changes useless. Which brings me to the conclusion that all the species not suited for such a watery life would die.

So, you can either come up with a new theory or stop using the excuse that, "evolution takes bagillions of years" as an argument against why we haven't seen any real changes in anything (and no, gaining immunity to a sickness doesn't count, an individual can become immune to a sickness through means of controlled exposure within their own lifetime, it has nothing to do with evolution).

This is not entirely true, however. As the physical demand dies off and is replaced with genes for "intelligence" (which I personally think is a mistake to use as a word), we are changing to adapt to a new enviornment. One where physical labor is nonexistant and our brain is the only worthwhile part to us...

Why haven't any other species developed this intelligence like humans have? Surely we weren't the only creatures who needed it.

[Tokoyami]

People keep saying things about how creatures evolve in response to their einvironment. For instance, ice age comes and all animals grow heavy fur or something like that. At the same time, the same people are trying to make the argument that evolution takes hundreds of thousands to millions of years. Am I the only one that sees the inconsistancy? How can a species evolve in response to a need presented by the environment when it takes them a ridiculous amount of time to do so? Lets say the world floods or becomes extremely swampy due to rising water levels, in theory, animals would have to evolve all sorts of features that suit them better for such an environment. But according to what I have heard, by the time any significant progress is actually made, those species could very well be in an ice age, making the changes useless. Which brings me to the conclusion that all the species not suited for such a watery life would die.

So, you can either come up with a new theory or stop using the excuse that, "evolution takes bagillions of years" as an argument against why we haven't seen any real changes in anything (and no, gaining immunity to a sickness doesn't count, an individual can become immune to a sickness through means of controlled exposure within their own lifetime, it has nothing to do with evolution).



Why haven't any other species developed this intelligence like humans have? Surely we weren't the only creatures who needed it.

Both of the theories you mentioned are inaccurate/wrong.

Evolution CAN take millions of years. Or it can happen in a week.

I'll explain in the following 2 scenarios

~~~~~1 WEEK EVOLUTION~~~~~~(or a short period)
A small forested area near a factory has white and brown moths. Naturally, more brown moths survive the fearsome predator known as a bird. The brown moths blend in with the treebark, making it harder for the birds to see them, but the white moths stick out, and get picked off by the birds. This leaves less white moths and more brown moths. Survival of the Fittest, the moths with the brown wing trait in there genes makes them more FIT for survival, while the moths with the white wing traits makes them easy targets.

Now lets say that the Factory got a new fuel component that released a new gas, and this new gas causes the trees to have white bark. (yes trees can have white bark, many trees naturally have a whitish bark.) Now the White moths are more FIT for survival and they can breed and increase there population. Meanwhile the brown moths now stickout and they are now the ones getting picked off.

That is evoution folks. Evolution is not spontaneous growth of body parts or traits. Nor is it that daddy needed to fly to survive easier, so his kids were born with wings.

~~~~a billion kajillion year evolution~~~~

ok this is reaaaal simple to explain.

Lets say there is a forest, and the forest has two food sources. Soft berries and Nuts. Lets say a rodent size creature eats these nuts and berries and there are two kinds of these rodents.

Rodents with sharp teeth for crunching nuts (ouch (>_<))
And Rodents withnormal blunt teeth, for eating berries.

Now these rodents both survive sideby side. Now lets say that the forests trees that make nuts can grow taller and faster than the trees that make berries. Then the trees that make berries can get enough sunlight and they start to slowly sloowwwwwwwwly die off. I mean REAL slow. This would happen simply because some of the trees with berries cant get enough sunlight to grow and yeild berries. Well this would mean that as the berry tree population would sloooooowly get smaller, as would the rodent population, seeing as the berries are there only food source. Eventually over millions of years of the trees dying off, and the rodents starving t3h death. The only breed of rodent left in the forest would be the Nut Rodent.

Thats an example of evolution, and how a species adapted to there Enviorment, the breed of berry rodent died off, while the breed of Nut Rodent lived on. Survival of the fittest. Of course real evolution scenarios are alot more complicated sumtimes, but i hope that gave the general idea of evolution.

One more thing about that. The Ice Age killed most of the animals without fur anyways. Those with less fur died, those with more survived. No animals randomly grew fur.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As for humans developng intelligence. The reason theorized by scientist is taht the reason we evolved mentally is because primates/primal beings survived against many predators by running. And those Primal beings that could run farther and faster would eventually get to hot and die from running so much. Most of the heat in the human body is let out thru the head, which is why your head sweats more than any part of your body(put on a couple of hats and a few scarfs and go run a mile. When u wake up from passing out from heat exaustion, get back to me if u dont believe me). Those with a better head adapted to release more heat, through sweating, survived, and didnt over heat and die from a heat stroke. Scientist believe thru this survival of the fitest primate,our minds recieved more oxygen allowing it to function better. Those who minds were more....well i guess....complex, functioned more and better than others. Those whos minds functioned the best, lived on to pass there genes. Making us smarter as we went on thru the ages.

At least, this is all what i heard and read in my biology class after class and after tests.

EDIT: god damn i typed alot, that took forever.

[Fect]

Wow. That was very well put.

Everyone give Tokoyami a round of applause.

[Tokoyami]

haha *bows* thank you ( ^_^) just thought i'd mention, so everyone knos exactly what evolution really is.

[snarles]

Though humans are very likely experiencing a slowdown in their Darwinian evolution, in my opinion, our evolution is only beginning. In the next two centuries human evolution will be faster than ever - but it will be artificial and not natural selection which predominates.

There is strong evidence that natural selection, a process which depends on mutations to change the course of a species' evolutionary development, accelerates during periods of great crisis (such as after a mass extinction), ans slows down in periods of stability. This is the theory of 'punctuated equilibrium', made famous by scientists such as Gould. Though this fairly weak theory merely fits the facts and offers no satisfactory explanation, it is logical that some degree of this effect would occur in human population. As our society stabilizes and adaptation is no longer a life-and-death matter, our genes will in effect stop changing in any large way. Even though evolution does take millions of years to become manifest, it is probably safe to say that if humans kept this way of life for the next few million years without changing anything, we would not have evolved into a different species at all. The many 'advances' in our species over the last century have been made by technology and societal changes, and not by adaptation. Thus, it is somewhat fitting that our next evolutionary advance with be orchestrated by our hands as well.

We are now on the verge of taking control of our own evolution. Of course, it is foolish to say the development will happen anytime soon or even in our liftetimes, as we only posess a very rudimentary knowledge of genetics. Many 'breakthroughs' in the headlines are gross exaggeration by the hype-loving media or companies seeking funding. Still, if this revolution takes place after 1000 years, that is still a blink in the eye of evolutionary timescale. And nobody can say that it will not take place in our lifetimes either.

Though the opposition is overwhelming, there is really no way to stop the march of progress in this field besides some global dictatorship taking over the world. Once the benefits are seen, it is only a matter of time before individuals and entire governments decide to accept the risks and embrace the control of our own evolution. And the dangers are real. The many horror movies made about some disaster brought up by genetic engineering are not that implausible: in many cases, they are frightenenly possible. Engineered diseases are a real issue - they could be used to great effect by terrorists or even entire nations. The prediction of side-effects of gentic tampering are near impossible to completely predict. Dolly, the famous cloned sheep, aged so fast that it died in a few weeks. And we still don't know if the 90% "junk" DNA has any role, even though we treat it as "filler" and cut it away mercilessly in recombinant DNA engineering. Recent studies show that it may have a purpose. And though our technology right now is only the tip of the iceberg, with the growth of technology increasing exponentially as more nations become developed, soon genetics may become a major global issue.

Indeed, enough technology already exists to spark great ethical and religious debates, many of which are quite serious and important to our society. The PGD technique allows parents to choose one of up to ten embryos to grow into a child. Though it is intended only to correct genetic disorders, there is no way to practically stop people from misusing this. Already, humans have the power to cheat the random chance involved in the genes of their progeny. Even more sobering is the prospect of germ-line engineering techniques. Though we are at least decades away from actually custom-designing human genes, if not for the immense barriers over research and testing of this technology, we might have had the power to create custom humans today. The possibilities are incredible and the potential unknown; humans can be created with longevity and disease resistance genes, or increased intelligence, physical power. Carried into the extreme, gentic modification of humans could create new beings hardly recognizable as human. Of course, this sort of modification is impossible in the near future. Right now, scientists don't have a clue on the biological basis of many diseases, aging, or even why people go bald. However, the principles are known, and the question about human gentic enhancement is not if is is possible, but when it is possible.

With this control on our own future, it is naive to say that people won't use the power to enhance their children. After all, it is a human instinct to let our progeny have the best chance for success, and very soon the rich and powerful may begin, if they haven't already, to alter the genes of their unborn. As the technology becomes less riskier and cheaper, this may start a new genetics arms race, with parents paying for the best possible genes to compete in the new world of artificial humans. This technology will allow humans to live in the deepest reaches of space and underwater, and so our evolution will take an unprecedented acceleration. Furthermore, all of this is not even considering the effects of the cybernetics and nanotechnology - possible of creating devices that augment humans to levels not biologically possible. Our evolution has only begun.

[Aka]

Tokoyami has listened very well in school to his/her teacher.
Nice explaination ^^
I just wanted to say the same, but I couldn't

*applauses*

[FascionViktem5k]

Things that humans cannot do, suppose flying, are made possibly with inventions like the airplane. We are not evolving biologically as noticeably as other animals simply because we have no need to. From what we know, the appendix is useless, but it also does not harm us, and thus it was "left alone" so to speak.

actually the appendix is quite harmful if infected... one would be in such pain that the mere thought of walking much less moving would make a person cringe... and that's the only thing the appendix is good for... getting infected... just thought i'd add in my two cents before leaving again.. all these arguments are quite good and i simply cannot beat that.. now.. off with you smart ppl! i wanna watch a debate!!

[Shaehl]

Both of the theories you mentioned are inaccurate/wrong.

Evolution CAN take millions of years. Or it can happen in a week.

I'll explain in the following 2 scenarios

~~~~~1 WEEK EVOLUTION~~~~~~(or a short period)
A small forested area near a factory has white and brown moths. Naturally, more brown moths survive the fearsome predator known as a bird. The brown moths blend in with the treebark, making it harder for the birds to see them, but the white moths stick out, and get picked off by the birds. This leaves less white moths and more brown moths. Survival of the Fittest, the moths with the brown wing trait in there genes makes them more FIT for survival, while the moths with the white wing traits makes them easy targets.

Now lets say that the Factory got a new fuel component that released a new gas, and this new gas causes the trees to have white bark. (yes trees can have white bark, many trees naturally have a whitish bark.) Now the White moths are more FIT for survival and they can breed and increase there population. Meanwhile the brown moths now stickout and they are now the ones getting picked off.

That is evoution folks. Evolution is not spontaneous growth of body parts or traits. Nor is it that daddy needed to fly to survive easier, so his kids were born with wings.

~~~~a billion kajillion year evolution~~~~

ok this is reaaaal simple to explain.

Lets say there is a forest, and the forest has two food sources. Soft berries and Nuts. Lets say a rodent size creature eats these nuts and berries and there are two kinds of these rodents.

Rodents with sharp teeth for crunching nuts (ouch (>_<))
And Rodents withnormal blunt teeth, for eating berries.

Now these rodents both survive sideby side. Now lets say that the forests trees that make nuts can grow taller and faster than the trees that make berries. Then the trees that make berries can get enough sunlight and they start to slowly sloowwwwwwwwly die off. I mean REAL slow. This would happen simply because some of the trees with berries cant get enough sunlight to grow and yeild berries. Well this would mean that as the berry tree population would sloooooowly get smaller, as would the rodent population, seeing as the berries are there only food source. Eventually over millions of years of the trees dying off, and the rodents starving t3h death. The only breed of rodent left in the forest would be the Nut Rodent.

Thats an example of evolution, and how a species adapted to there Enviorment, the breed of berry rodent died off, while the breed of Nut Rodent lived on. Survival of the fittest. Of course real evolution scenarios are alot more complicated sumtimes, but i hope that gave the general idea of evolution.

One more thing about that. The Ice Age killed most of the animals without fur anyways. Those with less fur died, those with more survived. No animals randomly grew fur.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As for humans developng intelligence. The reason theorized by scientist is taht the reason we evolved mentally is because primates/primal beings survived against many predators by running. And those Primal beings that could run farther and faster would eventually get to hot and die from running so much. Most of the heat in the human body is let out thru the head, which is why your head sweats more than any part of your body(put on a couple of hats and a few scarfs and go run a mile. When u wake up from passing out from heat exaustion, get back to me if u dont believe me). Those with a better head adapted to release more heat, through sweating, survived, and didnt over heat and die from a heat stroke. Scientist believe thru this survival of the fitest primate,our minds recieved more oxygen allowing it to function better. Those who minds were more....well i guess....complex, functioned more and better than others. Those whos minds functioned the best, lived on to pass there genes. Making us smarter as we went on thru the ages.

At least, this is all what i heard and read in my biology class after class and after tests.

EDIT: god damn i typed alot, that took forever.

The first two examples you've listed aren't the type of evolution I was arguing against. I'm speaking out against the belief that one species can become entirely different. Like a lizard becoming a bird. Weeding out or multiplying the frequency of certain characteristics of a species in the gene pool is perfectly reasonable in my mind and I no argument with it. However, the rodent case you listed is flawed. One species of rodent dying out while another species of rodent flourishes isn't evolution.

As for the evolution of intelligence bit, apes aren't the only creatures that run often. In fact, the amount of fleeing they participate is minimal when compared to other, weaker, creatures. If exessive running eventually evolves into intelligence, why are there still non-sentient species whos primary method of defence involves running away? In theory, they've had just as much, if not more, time as humans to finish evolving. After all, everyone supposedly came from the same singe celled organisms. Besides, if our evolution was focused on the ability to escape our predators faster, we wouldn't have ended up in our current form. Take a gorrilla and a human, put them in a forest and sick a tiger after them. Chances are, the tiger will be having human for dinner. Regardless, the supposition that our "ancestors" were dying of overheating in the head and therefore evolved superior intelligence is questionable at best.

[Tokoyami]

The first two examples you've listed aren't the type of evolution I was arguing against. I'm speaking out against the belief that one species can become entirely different. Like a lizard becoming a bird. Weeding out or multiplying the frequency of certain characteristics of a species in the gene pool is perfectly reasonable in my mind and I no argument with it. However, the rodent case you listed is flawed. One species of rodent dying out while another species of rodent flourishes isn't evolution.

As for the evolution of intelligence bit, apes aren't the only creatures that run often. In fact, the amount of fleeing they participate is minimal when compared to other, weaker, creatures. If exessive running eventually evolves into intelligence, why are there still non-sentient species whos primary method of defence involves running away? In theory, they've had just as much, if not more, time as humans to finish evolving. After all, everyone supposedly came from the same singe celled organisms. Besides, if our evolution was focused on the ability to escape our predators faster, we wouldn't have ended up in our current form. Take a gorrilla and a human, put them in a forest and sick a tiger after them. Chances are, the tiger will be having human for dinner. Regardless, the supposition that our "ancestors" were dying of overheating in the head and therefore evolved superior intelligence is questionable at best.

Ha, well of course its questionable, its a theory. And i would think that they didnt die from the heat, if the heat got to them i think they might of just collapsed and got caught by whatever was chasing them.

If a gorilla and a human were being chased by a tiger the gorilla would get eaten.....i mean....clearly....humans are faster than gorillas. And what non-sentient species are you speaking of, if u name them, i'd be glad to explain to you why they wouldnt evolve intelligence like we did.

Edit: for legged animals that run, the heat comes out of there back. IF u have a dog, and take it running, if u feel its back, it will be warmer than its head.


Though humans are very likely experiencing a slowdown in their Darwinian evolution, in my opinion, our evolution is only beginning. In the next two centuries human evolution will be faster than ever - but it will be artificial and not natural selection which predominates.

There is strong evidence that natural selection, a process which depends on mutations to change the course of a species' evolutionary development, accelerates during periods of great crisis (such as after a mass extinction), ans slows down in periods of stability. This is the theory of 'punctuated equilibrium', made famous by scientists such as Gould. Though this fairly weak theory merely fits the facts and offers no satisfactory explanation, it is logical that some degree of this effect would occur in human population. As our society stabilizes and adaptation is no longer a life-and-death matter, our genes will in effect stop changing in any large way. Even though evolution does take millions of years to become manifest, it is probably safe to say that if humans kept this way of life for the next few million years without changing anything, we would not have evolved into a different species at all. The many 'advances' in our species over the last century have been made by technology and societal changes, and not by adaptation. Thus, it is somewhat fitting that our next evolutionary advance with be orchestrated by our hands as well.

We are now on the verge of taking control of our own evolution. Of course, it is foolish to say the development will happen anytime soon or even in our liftetimes, as we only posess a very rudimentary knowledge of genetics. Many 'breakthroughs' in the headlines are gross exaggeration by the hype-loving media or companies seeking funding. Still, if this revolution takes place after 1000 years, that is still a blink in the eye of evolutionary timescale. And nobody can say that it will not take place in our lifetimes either.

Though the opposition is overwhelming, there is really no way to stop the march of progress in this field besides some global dictatorship taking over the world. Once the benefits are seen, it is only a matter of time before individuals and entire governments decide to accept the risks and embrace the control of our own evolution. And the dangers are real. The many horror movies made about some disaster brought up by genetic engineering are not that implausible: in many cases, they are frightenenly possible. Engineered diseases are a real issue - they could be used to great effect by terrorists or even entire nations. The prediction of side-effects of gentic tampering are near impossible to completely predict. Dolly, the famous cloned sheep, aged so fast that it died in a few weeks. And we still don't know if the 90% "junk" DNA has any role, even though we treat it as "filler" and cut it away mercilessly in recombinant DNA engineering. Recent studies show that it may have a purpose. And though our technology right now is only the tip of the iceberg, with the growth of technology increasing exponentially as more nations become developed, soon genetics may become a major global issue.

Indeed, enough technology already exists to spark great ethical and religious debates, many of which are quite serious and important to our society. The PGD technique allows parents to choose one of up to ten embryos to grow into a child. Though it is intended only to correct genetic disorders, there is no way to practically stop people from misusing this. Already, humans have the power to cheat the random chance involved in the genes of their progeny. Even more sobering is the prospect of germ-line engineering techniques. Though we are at least decades away from actually custom-designing human genes, if not for the immense barriers over research and testing of this technology, we might have had the power to create custom humans today. The possibilities are incredible and the potential unknown; humans can be created with longevity and disease resistance genes, or increased intelligence, physical power. Carried into the extreme, gentic modification of humans could create new beings hardly recognizable as human. Of course, this sort of modification is impossible in the near future. Right now, scientists don't have a clue on the biological basis of many diseases, aging, or even why people go bald. However, the principles are known, and the question about human gentic enhancement is not if is is possible, but when it is possible.

With this control on our own future, it is naive to say that people won't use the power to enhance their children. After all, it is a human instinct to let our progeny have the best chance for success, and very soon the rich and powerful may begin, if they haven't already, to alter the genes of their unborn. As the technology becomes less riskier and cheaper, this may start a new genetics arms race, with parents paying for the best possible genes to compete in the new world of artificial humans. This technology will allow humans to live in the deepest reaches of space and underwater, and so our evolution will take an unprecedented acceleration. Furthermore, all of this is not even considering the effects of the cybernetics and nanotechnology - possible of creating devices that augment humans to levels not biologically possible. Our evolution has only begun.

*applauds*

I never thought of that idea that deeply before. I think we can all see a world like coming in the future just like out of the anime Ghost in the Shell.

Artificial Evolution, my biology had another name for it, i cant remember, but i never thought of it the way you just described it. Hopefuly they can do sumthin like that when im old and cant barely move so i can get a new body. ( ^_^). Like Major Kusanagi!!

[Purokku-kun]

Chimpanzees share 98% of the same DNA as humans. Current theories now indicate that the difference in brain size between us and them compared to body size may be due to certain genes being more active in humans than in chimps.

I don't believe that intelligence necessarily came from a need to escape predators; if so, why aren't deer and zebra among the smartest animals? It's more likely that our brains' processing power came as a direct response to factors, including the need to find and recognise good food (colour recognition - which plants/fruits are ripe enough to eat, a trait shared by certain monkeys) and social interaction (remembering social relationships within the group, facial recognition). If you stop and think about the number of people you know - from work, or school, for example - then think about who they are, what they do, how they slot into your network of acquaintances, how long you have known them, whether you like them, and then any number of details about them, you realise just how complex our social interaction as a species is.

Also, could it not be that our heads are hotter, because that powerhouse of a brain of ours is using up a lot of energy to keep running? Perhaps I misread the point that was being made about that; I'll do the courtesy of re-reading that particular post.

Finally, a slightly pedantic point in the scheme of things, but STOPPED has two "P"s.

[Ikuto]

if evolution has stopped then we're screwd

[HallowDude]

we continue evolving until we go extinct
Few years ago i heard on the new that in about 200,000 the males will go extinct
every time a new generation of males are made the y chromesomes becomes smaller so eventually it will dissapear and thats and example of evolution

[Tokoyami]

Chimpanzees share 98% of the same DNA as humans. Current theories now indicate that the difference in brain size between us and them compared to body size may be due to certain genes being more active in humans than in chimps.

I don't believe that intelligence necessarily came from a need to escape predators; if so, why aren't deer and zebra among the smartest animals? It's more likely that our brains' processing power came as a direct response to factors, including the need to find and recognise good food (colour recognition - which plants/fruits are ripe enough to eat, a trait shared by certain monkeys) and social interaction (remembering social relationships within the group, facial recognition). If you stop and think about the number of people you know - from work, or school, for example - then think about who they are, what they do, how they slot into your network of acquaintances, how long you have known them, whether you like them, and then any number of details about them, you realise just how complex our social interaction as a species is.

Also, could it not be that our heads are hotter, because that powerhouse of a brain of ours is using up a lot of energy to keep running? Perhaps I misread the point that was being made about that; I'll do the courtesy of re-reading that particular post.

Finally, a slightly pedantic point in the scheme of things, but STOPPED has two "P"s.

You kinda got it, the theory says that those whos heads vent heat better. (sweat, having a thinner area on the top of the head) got more oxygen around that area, allowing our minds to function better.

I would think that since they functioned better, that allowed us to pass on information to the next generation causing our intelligence level to grow from generation to generation.

As for Zebras, tiger, dogs. I think that its because most of the heat is let out through there backs. seeing as it is the largest part of body facing upwards (heat travels upward).

we continue evolving until we go extinct
Few years ago i heard on the new that in about 200,000 the males will go extinct
every time a new generation of males are made the y chromesomes becomes smaller so eventually it will dissapear and thats and example of evolution

never heard of that, but it makes sense i guess.

if evolution has stopped then we're screwd
why is that? we would still live, have kids, die, eat, poop. Life owuld go on.

[HallowDude]

actually the climate will change over time and we will die off
like someone said earlier "we evolve to adapt"

[Tokoyami]

I dont think that can happen. With our technology we can easily adapt to any climate changes. Without our technology, we wouldnt be able to live in most of the world today.

[Purokku-kun]

I dont think that can happen. With our technology we can easily adapt to any climate changes. Without our technology, we wouldnt be able to live in most of the world today.

Well, that's why we're still here and thriving.

However, climate change will have profound effects on other species, and there is always the possibility of mass extinctions due to this, as some species have adapted so perfectly to their current niche, that any change will be disastrous.

[tednfs]

talking about next generations
china really went over the top
with the manditory sterilizations
and the males having an excess of bachelors
whats gonna happen

[Tokoyami]

( O_o)? well...i dunno? what does that have to do with this topic?

[tankhunter253]

talking about next generations
china really went over the top
with the manditory sterilizations
and the males having an excess of bachelors
whats gonna happen

i'll tell you what will happen there will be a slowing down of the birthrate in china but it's still wouldn't be enough to control the exploding birthrate.

[shadow_of_89]

We haven't stopped evolution.....we will eventually lose our body and become only spirits

[AltoK]

The environment has changed much in a little amount of time. It is normal that it would change from time to time, but these natural changes are meant to be slow.
Thus, much more pressure is put on all the living beings on this planet than before. Species got to evolve fast, or they disappear.

In fact, I believe we have made evolution go faster. But, how many species will disappear as that pace speeds up ?

[Rising Phoenix]

The environment has changed much in a little amount of time. It is normal that it would change from time to time, but these natural changes are meant to be slow.
Thus, much more pressure is put on all the living beings on this planet than before. Species got to evolve fast, or they disappear.

In fact, I believe we have made evolution go faster. But, how many species will disappear as that pace speeds up ?


Most Specilists will go over the extinction fence(Ex. Great Panda. Highly specilaized eating/breeding habits etc). However Generalists will thrive. (Ex. Gulls. They easily adapt to all sort of habitats) and once the climate has stabilizzed the generalists will slowly evolve into specialists in order to take advantage of niches. It has happened before (mass extinction) yet evry time life comes back in even more diversified forms. That's what I love about it...

And No we haven't stopped evolution it's still going on. It's impossible to stop it. Maybe we will develop bigger brains to accept more information or we may become less strong now that there's is no need for strength.

Finaly yes it is possible for humans to develop wings. Bats are our closest living relatives after monkeys and primeapes. And if we ever wanna go into the water we can always follow the path of seals,dolphins and whales and develop blowholes and flippers. :winking56

Cheers,

R.P.

[AltoK]

Most Specilists will go over the extinction fence(Ex. Great Panda. Highly specilaized eating/breeding habits etc). However Generalists will thrive. (Ex. Gulls. They easily adapt to all sort of habitats) and once the climate has stabilizzed the generalists will slowly evolve into specialists in order to take advantage of niches. It has happened before (mass extinction) yet evry time life comes back in even more diversified forms. That's what I love about it...
R.P.

Sure life can find its way all by itself...
Well, anyway, I agree with you. Your explaination about re-specialization is very good :D

[shadow_of_89]

humans are a very adaptive species.....but if the events that concern our environment continue like this we won't have anything to adapt at

[Halbard]

you need to remmeber that Evolution is insainely slow, the ability to walk up right took so much time i have trouble grasping it in a managable scale. To darwin's theory, all the species he looked at had reached a capacity of their own enviroments, in other words an S-shaped curve, meaning that the population had started, had a boom, and then reached the max amount that the habitat could support, to that respect there is a limited amount of room for new members of said species, then the fitter survive while the less innept die off, because there is no room for them otherwise, the human race is currently in a J-shaped curve in that we havent found a capacity for our enviroment, once this capacity is reached and there is little room for more, natural selection and evolution will take over in the respect that darwin thought of, though if we will ever reach this capacity and have to start to fight for life, which is where the curve will turn from S to J and the natural selection will start to occur, is a hard question, we'd probably expand to the starts, there for keeping the J-shaped curve, and to date we are the only species that is in a J-shaped curve.

[Sora]

I believe we haven't stopped changin'... In fact, every time one of our cells divide, a mutation happens... So, think a little... If our cells are dividing since we are zigotes, and we have about 20 years (for instance)... How many mutations do you think we've got in our cells...??? In fact, this mutations sometimes is the thing that make us to have cancer, or to have one disease or another... the ones who are able to survive from these mutations, are the ones who give birth to new life's... So, in fact we're always evoluting... The thing it's, the changes are not as evident to make us appreciate that our fenotype has changed.

[neroahs]

Evolution takes an extremely long time, like say a million years? But eventually we all will evolve, like Shadow Mask said, everytime we make new life, we are dividing our cells, and each time this happens, there is a littte mutation occuring. So after a long long period of minor mutations, then soon, we will see the effect of evolution.

[AznPoi]

Evolution will never stop until we stop reproducing.

[VampyreLord]

Today we are in agreement AznPoi, evolution by it's very nature cannot be stopped. Some of our genes will survive and some will die. The genes that survive will represent our race as the genepool continually changes.

[AznPoi]

Today we are in agreement AznPoi, evolution by it's very nature cannot be stopped. Some of our genes will survive and some will die. The genes that survive will represent our race as the genepool continually changes.

When did we argue???

What I believe is that we are going to eventually build a caste system somehow.

[VampyreLord]

When did we argue???
What I believe is that we are going to eventually build a caste system somehow.

We argued when you made massive and completely stupid generalsiations about Christians:

http://forums.bleachportal.net/showthread.php?t=11990&page=24

[Sanzora]

Humans have not stopped evolving… Physically or mentally…

Simple examples of the physical evolution are things like our wisdom teeth… They are now obsolete in some children and need to be removed from most adults due to the jaw being too small as a result of the more and more processed food we are becoming accustomed to eating. Another thing you can notice is height through generations… People are still getting taller through their generations of children. If you want a more direct comparison of the modern person and man, say, in the middle ages, all you have to do is look at the old suites of armour you can find.

Mentally, I think it should be relatively clear we are evolving mentally… Look at what some children are teaching their parents nowadays! We are becoming more and more intelligent and innovative, and finding new ways to use things. Some people are even proclaiming that the world is in the middle of a ‘psychic awakening’, with more apparently psychic individuals becoming known. This would indicate that there is an increase in mental activity, and that we are slowly but sure tapping into the unused average 96% of our brains.

[Halbard]

Actually about the hieght thing, man seem to think that has something to do with diets and what is in out food, also at one point in the middle ages, people were exceptionally tall, almost as much as today, this mainly was due to the diet they hadd, consisting of more raw vegitables, roots, etc, but they lost their stature at one point due to a dietary shift <.<

That aside, the other points are great examples of evolutionary change

[AznPoi]

We argued when you made massive and completely stupid generalsiations about Christians:
http://forums.bleachportal.net/showthread.php?t=11990&page=24

Zomg, that was long ago and I came home arguing with my friend over religion.

Also it is more of a venting process as I only posted once on that thread and didn't even remember it until now.

[layla]

humans have not, and will never stop evolving. why? because its nature, and thats the way nature works, no matter how we mess with it, nothing will change. the way evolution occurs might be different, but it exists nevertheless.

[Dounick]

humans have not, and will never stop evolving. why? because its nature, and thats the way nature works, no matter how we mess with it, nothing will change. the way evolution occurs might be different, but it exists nevertheless.
thats true
becuase if you look at the evolution of man
we have went from looking like and ape.... to what we have come to look like today....

but no one can predict the future.... so we could have stopped evolving.... but we could also be evolving at the very same time as we speak.... or we could be evovling in the next hundred or so of years

[Ellegin]

we dont realy notice evelution that since it takes thousend and thousends of years. But what we can notice do is that we are changing. past the last 1000 years we have probelbly incresed our lifes with what 60%? and our average hight with like 25% but that is probebly becouse of us.

[KT Samurai]

I know a few people to probably stopped evolving.

[chiking1]

we have probelbly incresed our lifes with what 60%? and our average hight with like 25% but that is probebly becouse of us.

I agree... that is probably proof of us evolving

[Jack Van Burace]

Today we are in agreement AznPoi, evolution by it's very nature cannot be stopped. Some of our genes will survive and some will die. The genes that survive will represent our race as the genepool continually changes.
Yay, a topic of my specialty: biological evolution! Ok, first of all, genes are not living beeings. Living beeings have genes inside them, and what eucariotes (cells that have nucleus) have can't be explained by the 'gene' concept, so no1 of us actually have genes, yay! Ppl only mention it in graduation molecular genetics, cuz it's too much for highschool, lol. I'm actually a graduated biologist on the brink of becoming highschool biology teacher ^^.

[Jack Van Burace]

we dont realy notice evelution that since it takes thousend and thousends of years. But what we can notice do is that we are changing. past the last 1000 years we have probelbly incresed our lifes with what 60%? and our average hight with like 25% but that is probebly becouse of us.
Evolution also doesn't 'improve' us. Actually, several times the evolved charachter is negative for the individuals. But in order 2 get new charachters, we need diversity, and so, a "bad charachter" could be usefull for reaching a diferent protein, or usefull in a new circunstance not yet seen...

[Jack Van Burace]

Also, evolution isn't linear. Bacteria for instance have evolved to simplicity (they aren't alike they would b 50.000 years ago, i.e.), in order to reproduce faster and so, they're almost impossible to b extinct. Humanity could face extinction, but not they. Try to create a trully clean environment, and u'll c we actually need bacteria in several ways. So, depending on the angle u c it, there will b a new 'most evolved' beeing 2 pick. None of them is absolute.

[Ellegin]

evelution can be both positiv and negativ right? depends on how you see it, a goob brain was good thing for us but not for nature, and as i see it size isnt realy a positiv thing, the species that would probebly outlive ous humans are all much smaler. like bacteria,that big nasty bug witch name i cant remember and the scorpion right?

[Jack Van Burace]

evelution can be both positiv and negativ right? depends on how you see it, a goob brain was good thing for us but not for nature, and as i see it size isnt realy a positiv thing, the species that would probebly outlive ous humans are all much smaler. like bacteria,that big nasty bug witch name i cant remember and the scorpion right?
Right. But a good brain is also negative because we need it to live, and beeing so complex it can't be fixed/brakes easily/demands glucose on the blood, cuz it's specificity demands only that as energy source(unlike other cells which break fat and aminoacids). Hence a very demanding structure that wouldn't susain itself whihout a high energy source. Is it good enough for the trouble it causes? Depends on the circunstance ^^

[~black butterfly~]

i think we have...i think one purpose why we evolved because we adpated to the environment....we needed to develop some capabilities in order to live....since nowadays, people are fairly contented and doesnt seem to have the need to adapt... i think we have stopped evolving....

[Exodus]

I can't really be sure on the answer because it took a long time for ape to evolve to human. It could mean that evolution will still occur, but not in this generation. Maybe the next 5-10 generations, it could make minimal difference.

[Kenken]

i think physically we have, but mentally we still have a long way to go, but i don't know if we will evolved since technology is making our lives easier, both physically and mentally.

[Deathscyth Hell]

Evolution normaly takes thousends, if not millions of years to occur. So the time that civilisation has been around is realy to short a time period for evolution to seriously occur.

[Jack Van Burace]

i think we have...i think one purpose why we evolved because we adpated to the environment....we needed to develop some capabilities in order to live....since nowadays, people are fairly contented and doesnt seem to have the need to adapt... i think we have stopped evolving....
But saying that is agreeing whith Lamarck's ideas, and even tho Darwin himself used those 2 validate evolution theory, they're easily discarded. Diferent charachteristics don't develop by need, only thru mutation, and that happens randomly. Also, every non-infinite population is under a genetic drift ratio, and if we don't have a strong natural selection acting upon us it's even better, cuz our genetic variability won't diminish, meaning it all that we get to evolve much more now than in times of need. Phisiology is Lamarckist, not evolution. To develop your body u need hardship, to evolve u need success.

[Delta]

But saying that is agreeing whith Lamarck's ideas, and even tho Darwin himself used those 2 validate evolution theory, they're easily discarded. Diferent charachteristics don't develop by need, only thru mutation, and that happens randomly. Also, every non-infinite population is under a genetic drift ratio, and if we don't have a strong natural selection acting upon us it's even better, cuz our genetic variability won't diminish, meaning it all that we get to evolve much more now than in times of need. Phisiology is Lamarckist, not evolution. To develop your body u need hardship, to evolve u need success.

Right, it's almostimpossible to "stop" evolving. Even more apparent is our social "evolution" which involves the exchange of memes instead of genes.

[nikuwadoko]

Yes. I believe we have stopped it. Now death is a possibility and not an inevitability.

[Sarteck]

Yes. I believe we have stopped it. Now death is a possibility and not an inevitability.
I don't quite see how that has anything to do with the stopping of evolution... heh.

As for my opinion on the subject--no, we've not stopped evolution, een darwin's "survival of the fittest" theory. It's just that we've changed the rules... There are now more ways to survive. A person could scrape a living on street smarts alone, or they could prosper in wealth, or however, but the strong still survive, while the weak still perish. Heh.

I am speaking, of course, in VERY broad, generalizing terms. I am not calling each individual that's died prematurely to be "weak," but rather them as a whole.

[Chouji]

We as humans are still adapting adaptaion doesnt have to be physical we have not even began to stop adapting in such a way and due to the mental adaptation the average human life span has increased and we have became smarter and much less primitive.

[nikuwadoko]

I don't quite see how that has anything to do with the stopping of evolution... heh.


Isn't aging a part of evolution?

[Jack Van Burace]

I don't quite see how that has anything to do with the stopping of evolution... heh.
As for my opinion on the subject--no, we've not stopped evolution, een darwin's "survival of the fittest" theory. It's just that we've changed the rules... There are now more ways to survive. A person could scrape a living on street smarts alone, or they could prosper in wealth, or however, but the strong still survive, while the weak still perish. Heh.
I am speaking, of course, in VERY broad, generalizing terms. I am not calling each individual that's died prematurely to be "weak," but rather them as a whole.
Well, just 2 make it right, Darwin's survival of the fittest has been discarded ever since the early 50s. What we use today as evolution theory is based on Darwin, but hardly the same, and that's why it's called NEO-darwinism :toocool:

[KCD Itachi]

evolution is false. thats all

[7D$]

evolution is false. thats all
next time you make such an "opinion" I'll Debate your ass, till your head falls OFF!

Well evolution can be stopped since ppl are always advancing. It may be slow but we are always advancing.

for example: Processors

like 4 years back you didnt have a pentium (lets say euhhhmm) 4 so if we didnt evolve we couldnt make a product any better right?

cuz i think of it this way. The more years pass by the more PPL know. If you know more things now on your 16th then 4 years back on your 16th then i think the human race has evolved

^that was a example and if it isnt clear enough i'll clear it for you ^^

[SoundWave]

WTF is evolution... duh :S I just ate it... J/k..

Everything advances, changes, develops... For better or for worse... Imo

[7D$]

WTF is evolution... duh :S I just ate it... J/k..
Everything advances, changes, develops... For better or for worse... Imo
you know I wub ya :P

Would you consider "learnin the basics" as evolution N0s?

[Jack Van Burace]

evolution is false. thats all
And u say that based on... ?

[mooks]

There's a recent article stating that Asians are at the forefront of human evolution...

A watered-down version of the article states that asians, with their smaller jaws and permeate-like eyesight and also their default reaction to infections are at the forefont of human evolution...

here's the article:

Human Genome Shows Proof of Recent Evolution, Survey Finds

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/03/0308_060308_evolution.html

[Jack Van Burace]

There's a recent article stating that Asians are at the forefront of human evolution...
A watered-down version of the article states that asians, with their smaller jaws and permeate-like eyesight and also their default reaction to infections are at the forefont of human evolution...
here's the article:
Human Genome Shows Proof of Recent Evolution, Survey Finds
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/03/0308_060308_evolution.html
Man, I'm surprised of how could u misinterpretate an article, lol. Tho I don't think it's your fault, but someone should really make a study on alternate conceptions using your post as main source of discussion, lol.
No offense, please. But the mentioned study is saying, by my reading, that diferent 'ethnics' arose under diferent selective pressure, which is very interesting. I think everyone had once thought of that already.
But taking this as an argument, I have 2 remember you, that some ppl can have the trouble to actually deny fossils, which are concrete. So, I know your intenions are good, but there's no use arguing whith this kind of blockheads. They'll ignore an article like this even easier than they ignore fossils, for instance :winking56

[Shinigami_Josh]

@mooks man that is a bit biasad the main difference is that people of asian decent have less testosterone so smaller in many ways but longer life (to a point)

and how can we say evolution has stoped as it take melenia to happen

[dragoneyes001]

as long as we keep fending off colds and other deseases we keep evolving.

evolution is adapting to your circumstances at the genetics level.

[mooks]

Man, I'm surprised of how could u misinterpretate an article, lol. Tho I don't think it's your fault, but someone should really make a study on alternate conceptions using your post as main source of discussion, lol.
No offense, please. But the mentioned study is saying, by my reading, that diferent 'ethnics' arose under diferent selective pressure, which is very interesting. I think everyone had once thought of that already.
But taking this as an argument, I have 2 remember you, that some ppl can have the trouble to actually deny fossils, which are concrete. So, I know your intenions are good, but there's no use arguing whith this kind of blockheads. They'll ignore an article like this even easier than they ignore fossils, for instance :winking56

Hey man... None taken!
I gotta thank you, actually... I was gonna make a complete fool of myself!

I didn't read the article fully, that's really my fault...
But I'm pretty sure about what I said... I was actually referring to the April 2006 issue... of which Scott Norris also wrote... And he did state those exact views about evolutionary process- as controversial as they may be.

And it also escapes me how people cannot look at fossils as proof of the evolutionary process- religion would be a poor excuse.. because the Ecumenical society, and all Canonized churches agree with this science.. That includes the Vatican and WCC (world council of churches)

But it's good to finally see that sociologists and biologists are on the same page now...
16th century sociologists such as Carl Linnaeus(who was the greatest Nomenclature of our time) suggested that humankind was made up of five general racial groups: Caucasoid, Mongoloid, Capoid and Negroid peoples.(Can't remember the last one.. if anyone knows..) Such physical differences were seen as a function of the specific geographical origins of distinct peoples. The only thing different is the use of the word 'racial groups' and 'races'

[7D$]

@mooks man that is a bit biasad the main difference is that people of asian decent have less testosterone so smaller in many ways but longer life (to a point)

and how can we say evolution has stoped as it take melenia to happen

if you had chicken poks b4 then you body makes some kind of products that will protect ya against it, so thats a form of evolution and it wont take a millenia to evolve lol

[SoundWave]

you know I wub ya :P
Would you consider "learnin the basics" as evolution N0s?
You learn the basics, then you evolve from that... :D

[Jack Van Burace]

Good good! I can b too criticizing sometimes, and it concerns me if I may come 2 ofend some1 at times, but I'm glad u weren't ^^

Neway, @ others:
-1 thing is 2 talk about 'biological evolution', which is a specific concept, closed whithin scientific arguments;
-another whole thing is 2 discuss 'evolution' as 'human development', and then u open up a huge new array of interpretations :-)

Which one was the intended by the thread starter I don't know. But we debaters should try to debate about the same thing, lol. There's no point in using biological evolution arguments on technology evolution matters, and vice versa.

[7D$]

You learn the basics, then you evolve from that... :D
:D thought soo hehe wanted to be sure :D

[dragoneyes001]

Good good! I can b too criticizing sometimes, and it concerns me if I may come 2 ofend some1 at times, but I'm glad u weren't ^^

Neway, @ others:
-1 thing is 2 talk about 'biological evolution', which is a specific concept, closed whithin scientific arguments;
-another whole thing is 2 discuss 'evolution' as 'human development', and then u open up a huge new array of interpretations :-)

Which one was the intended by the thread starter I don't know. But we debaters should try to debate about the same thing, lol. There's no point in using biological evolution arguments on technology evolution matters, and vice versa.

biological evolution wont stop no matter what we do including genetic engineering. whatever we do will not stop nature from continuing to evolve from the results. to stop evolution you need to stop all growth period which would be killing us!

technological evolution is pretty much the same way no matter how much the amish don't want to use electricity and technology they still figure out better ways to churn the butter raise a barn and do pretty much anything because its natural to become more efficient at what you do with experience which is passed on to the next generation and so on.

[7D$]

you got a strong piont there Dragon But what does those 2 evolutions have in common with eachother?

i think they are 2 differnt things and cant be called the same cuz there is a clear differnce. We cant control Biological evolution cuz our body does it automatticaly and you cant turn it off lol but technological evolution is based on teh intelligence of a human cuz we didnt make a thing thats smarter then us YET. so i think Jack ment that we are discussin 2 differnt things in one thread ^^

[baakss]

Evolution is still occuring. Natural selection has slowed down significantly (as we are near perfect for the environment) but that is one of seven conditions that must be met to stop evolution.

According to the Castle-Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium, here are the seven conditions.

1. mutation is not occurring
2. natural selection is not occurring
3. the population is infinitely large
4. all members of the population breed
5. all mating is totally random
6. everyone produces the same number of offspring
7. there is no migration in or out of the population

Obviously we havent met all 7. Evolution is still occuring.

[7D$]

Evolution is still occuring. Natural selection has slowed down significantly (as we are near perfect for the environment) but that is one of seven conditions that must be met to stop evolution.
According to the Castle-Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium, here are the seven conditions.
1. mutation is not occurring
2. natural selection is not occurring
3. the population is infinitely large
4. all members of the population breed
5. all mating is totally random
6. everyone produces the same number of offspring
7. there is no migration in or out of the population
Obviously we havent met all 7. Evolution is still occuring.

I dont think i can agree with that cuz since we didnt met those 7 conditions how would you know lol

[Delta]

no were still going with evolution i heard some scientist are trying to make "Perfect species"

Evolution doesnt create a "perfect species", it eventually prodeces a species which is well adapted to the forces acting on it within it's environment, which, if the environement changes, evolution may start producing changes within the species that was "perfectly" adapted to live there before the environment changed. Any scientist that talks about creating a "perfect species" probly isnt very knowledgeable about how evolution works.

[TheSixth]

I have three concepts on the continuity of mankind's evolution.

1. Mental Evolution. Humanity has reached the end of its physical evololution, but rather than change its form, man's mind will evolve so that we will be able to use the full extent of our brain which has incredible potential. However, a humans mind subcociously uses a small percentage of its capability.

2. Advanced Prosthetic Bodies. Mankind has indeed reached the end of its evolution so rather than waiting hundreds of thousands of years (if we haven't destroyed ourselves by then), we will use technology to alter the body and forcibly push the body to its max. Imagine a body free of the weaknesses sickness, fatigue, and injury it would be partly or completely prosthetic. A fusion of biological and mechanical parts, giving the appearance of humanity superficially. Imagine having a mind that could detach from worldly concerns and travel through the ocean of the internet as data and connect and communicate with others around the world through thought alone. This technology is at least 50+ years away but it is a very real concept being research by scientists around the world.

3. Genetic Engineering / Forced Evolution. Ensuring genetic perfection while it develops in the womb or in a facility until it is ready for birth. Children would be born with no gentic abnormalities or hereditary traits such as heart problems, disease, ect. As a man of science and reason i don't really believe in a god however this concept would be considered playing god by the religious and has been rejected and banned (short sighted fools).

Hope you enjoyed my opinions on this issue.

[Kootje]

My opinion: At first we are still evolving, If you look at most animals they evolve physicly and all have something special as a defence. Yet we humans don't have that which makes us the weakest on the planet. But we evolve mentally our strengt is our intellegence and our abillity to adept. And still we use little of our brain percentage, we don't push ourselves to the limit physicly as well. We are near building the perfect 'human'. So I agree with the sixth. As for us playing gods I don't think creating better invornment and bodys is playing god, it's just evolution, our part of it. Its our mind that does it, I mean we are discussing it right now, that definitly shows our intelligence!
The ending: I do not believe evolution ending, since every question calls up a new one. With the new of nanotech, the things mentioned by the sixth, come really close, but what after that wouldn't we want more?!?! This is the end of the humans I think that our wish for power, and being greedy destroys us. If it doesn't than eventually evolution will end. With us being able to do everything we can imagine! Since that will take to much time, i do not believe that will happen, my guess is that some comet or something chrasses destroying our techenology and then it's over for us!:eek13:

[Nemesis0521]

You cannot stop evolution. It will aways happen. So far we are evolutionizing mentally.

[Oblivavation]

I don't really think that evolution has stopped really. Evolution is a long process, so even if it really did happen, I think that the changes will be so slow that almost no one will notice it... well... that's my opinion anyway.

[kaede822]

what i've learned is that evolution occurs when a specie adapts to its environment... like the difference between the fishes..they are structured to adapt to their environment... fishes who need to swim through rapids have a more streamlined look to facilitate for ease as they swim against the rapids...

i think humans apply to that rule as well... however, for now, humans have slowed down on evolution...however, if major changes occur in our environment, then i could say that evolution will most likely occur

[baakss]

Scroll down to the bottom of the thread if you want the summary.

This is coming from a biology major at Baylor University. This is not a scientific debate. Evolution still occurs in human beings today. Every biologist on the planet will attest to this. They will all point you to the castle-hardy-weinberg equilibrium.

There are complex mathematical proofs, so I'll just give you the basics. Consider the following: You are a poster in this thread who says evolution has stopped in human beings. You have 2 alleles (copies) of a gene. One of these copies causes severe retardation. The other is normal. You are not retarded because the normal one is dominant. However, you will pass the severe retardation allele on to half of your offspring. If you have a wife who is heterozygous as you are (she has one normal and one retarded allele), then 1/4 of your offspring will be severely retarded. 1/4 will have 2 normal alleles. And 1/2 will be heterozygous.

The 1/4 of your offspring who are severely retarded probably will not mate. If they do not pass on their genetic material, then the ratio has changed. 2/3 of your offspring who reproduce have one retarded gene and one normal gene. 1/3 have 2 normal genes. Do you see where this is going? Extrapolate.

The 1/3 of your offspring with 2 normal genes CANNOT pass on the retarded gene. The 2/3 of your offspring with one retarded and one normal will continue the ratio you observed before. Eventually, what this leads to is the retarded gene being completely wiped out. This is an example of evolution we observe all the time.

This is an EXTREMELY basic proof of evolution. Any gene that makes you infertile is being removed from the population by evolution. Natural selection is one of many components of evolution. You're not accounting for mutation, you're not accounting for migration, genetic drift, assortative vs random mating, or anything. All of these things lead to evolution.

In summation:
EVOLUTION IS STILL OCCURING IN HUMAN BEINGS. NO EDUCATED BIOLOGIST ON THE FACE OF THE PLANET WILL TELL YOU OTHERWISE. ALL WILL POINT YOU TO THE HARDY-WEINBERG EQUILIBRIUM (google it). THIS THREAD IS THE EQUIVALENT OF PEOPLE ARGUING WHETHER OR NOT 2 PLUS 2 EQUALS 4. THERE IS AN ANSWER TO THE QUESTION ALREADY.

[dundo1989]

i really dont think evolution stoppd...but remember its all gene transformation etc...all dose ppl with dose gene malfunction might be the evolution but not in da fixd phase...or maybe da ppl dat were born super smart...i heard normal ppl use 20% of der brain to make technology....its true...so dese ppl dat were born to be super smart and help on technology..dey must be usin just more dan 20% ..imagine if it was 100% we wouldnt be livin in dis age...its would be all crazy technology....but we have our limits but evolution does continue so it can create some1 above our limits ...same species..but with an additional effect..its like a new species....and also all da science dat has been discoverd...theories...r not all 100% finishd....so till den evolution still exists till we reach near the end...or there will be no end and its limitless...
so evolution still does exist...

[Lex]

There's no way it could have been stopped. Think about it...how many of you have had to have wisdom teeth removed? The reason that is given is that the jaw is too small, it's not a random mutation or somthing, alot of people have had it done. It proves that the human jaw is growing smaller, thus evolution. But I guess we won't really know unless we live for a few hundred years extra...

[Lex]

Lol, are we developing smaller mouths?!
Soon we can't enjoy them jawbreakers anymore T_T
They'll make them smaller or something. And I wasn't joking. In fact some people haven't even developed their wisdom teeth. I even needed my jaw broken to have it fixed to 'normal' length.