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Human evolution is over...
Topic Started: Sep 8 2009, 10:17 AM (118 Views)
Niongor
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Giver of the *Hi-5*
This article is quite old, but I remember reading it and thought I'd post it. It's from a scientist who thinks that evolutions in humans is likely to be over.

Linky.

I think he makes a goed point :yes:
"There is no next time: it's now or never!"

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Pez201
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New and improved
Don't agree.

Our direct ancestors had larger muscles, better for hunting game and surviving injuries.

But Homo Sapiens has a more efficient brain, making brawn less necessary.

Thousands of years from now our descendents will look at us and see brutes - just like we do with Homo Erectus and Neanderthals.

We'll always be evolving, it just remain to be seen how our descendants are different.
"I never said i was the first person..yesh. I admit Pez was the first one to throw a goat" - Fin
Leader of the Canadian Fat Whale Party from 21/5/08 - 29/8/09 and from 1/8/09 when his 48 hour brain fuzz cleared up. :D
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disposablepuppetland
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But these days having more or less brain doesn't effect your chance of producing offspring.


The only way humans will continue to evolve is if something happens that kills off large parts of the population, like a super-virus or something.

Evolution doesn't really work without natural selection, and we've pretty much stopped natural selection.

Maybe in the future we will advance our evolution artificially, by altering people's genes before they are born, but barring some major disaster, we won't be doing much natural evolving.
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Ess
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twirling hippy chick
One of the comments:

Quote:
 
How did evolution knew it had to stop. Did someone tell it?




I believe we are always evolving, we just can't tell in the short term.
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jDELIGHT
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Fun is the only noise you should hear
disposablepuppetland,Sep 8 2009
10:52 PM
The only way humans will continue to evolve is if something happens that kills off large parts of the population, like a super-virus or something.

Evolution doesn't really work without natural selection, and we've pretty much stopped natural selection.

Maybe in the future we will advance our evolution artificially, by altering people's genes before they are born, but barring some major disaster, we won't be doing much natural evolving.

I disagree. There is no stopping natural selection because it is out of our control. As long as there is a living Earth, there is change, and change will select for some things and not others. Random chance is always at work in every system.

We are constantly evolving, just as Ess said above.

A 21-Skwerl Salute for the Dizzy Twirling Hippy Chick!

"Your only true land based hope are aerodynamically correct goats." JT
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Pez201
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Even in our own modern era, there has been natural selection.

In the pre-industrial age fat, and pale was sexy because it showed you had enough money to be well-fed, and worked indoors. Then tanned and muscular was in, because it showed you worked outdoors and not in some polluting factory. Even now in some non-Western cultures, obese men and women are more attractive than skinny/fit ones, because obese = I eat a lot = money.

Even with people who have lots of kids and are on welfare (and there's lots of them where I live). They know they can have as many kids as they want (seriously: six, seven, eight) and not worry about money. Those who work have time and money constraints, making families of more then three or four kids rare. Also, stupidity in such cases is a virtue and intelligence a vice: even when you see them in shops they just act stupid, not in that benign way that some do (i.e. me :P ) but almost like they go out of their way to piss of everyone else, mum with three shopping trolleys and six kids in tow, looking like a road train.

What was the thread topic again? :P
"I never said i was the first person..yesh. I admit Pez was the first one to throw a goat" - Fin
Leader of the Canadian Fat Whale Party from 21/5/08 - 29/8/09 and from 1/8/09 when his 48 hour brain fuzz cleared up. :D
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disposablepuppetland
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jDELIGHT,Sep 9 2009
05:04 AM
disposablepuppetland,Sep 8 2009
10:52 PM
The only way humans will continue to evolve is if something happens that kills off large parts of the population, like a super-virus or something.

Evolution doesn't really work without natural selection, and we've pretty much stopped natural selection.

Maybe in the future we will advance our evolution artificially, by altering people's genes before they are born, but barring some major disaster, we won't be doing much natural evolving.

I disagree. There is no stopping natural selection because it is out of our control. As long as there is a living Earth, there is change, and change will select for some things and not others. Random chance is always at work in every system.

We are constantly evolving, just as Ess said above.

Yes, natural selection is out of our control, but in the developed world, only a very small proportion of people die before reaching child-bearing age. Therefore natural selection selects almost everyone, limiting the effect of evolution. We haven't stopped our evolution completely, but we've certainly weakened its effects.

There is a bit more evolution going on in the developing world, for example there are communities who seem to have developed a natural immunity to aids.

Pez has a point about less intelligent people having large families, but this is a very recent phenomenon and may just be a passing trend. Assuming that it even is a trend at the moment, and not just our inaccurate perception.
[align=center]This is what DPL is about - Also known as The Justified Ancients of West-Side - Furthermore known as the Jam
Cartographer of Canada
[/align]
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Niongor
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Giver of the *Hi-5*
disposablepuppetland,Sep 9 2009
10:30 AM
jDELIGHT,Sep 9 2009
05:04 AM
disposablepuppetland,Sep 8 2009
10:52 PM
The only way humans will continue to evolve is if something happens that kills off large parts of the population, like a super-virus or something.

Evolution doesn't really work without natural selection, and we've pretty much stopped natural selection.

Maybe in the future we will advance our evolution artificially, by altering people's genes before they are born, but barring some major disaster, we won't be doing much natural evolving.

I disagree. There is no stopping natural selection because it is out of our control. As long as there is a living Earth, there is change, and change will select for some things and not others. Random chance is always at work in every system.

We are constantly evolving, just as Ess said above.

Yes, natural selection is out of our control, but in the developed world, only a very small proportion of people die before reaching child-bearing age. Therefore natural selection selects almost everyone, limiting the effect of evolution. We haven't stopped our evolution completely, but we've certainly weakened its effects.

There is a bit more evolution going on in the developing world, for example there are communities who seem to have developed a natural immunity to aids.

Pez has a point about less intelligent people having large families, but this is a very recent phenomenon and may just be a passing trend. Assuming that it even is a trend at the moment, and not just our inaccurate perception.

I agree with DPL on this, he's basically put into words the thoughts I have on the issue.
"There is no next time: it's now or never!"

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jDELIGHT
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Fun is the only noise you should hear
jDELIGHT,Sep 9 2009
04:04 AM
disposablepuppetland,Sep 8 2009
10:52 PM
The only way humans will continue to evolve is if something happens that kills off large parts of the population, like a super-virus or something.

Evolution doesn't really work without natural selection, and we've pretty much stopped natural selection.

Maybe in the future we will advance our evolution artificially, by altering people's genes before they are born, but barring some major disaster, we won't be doing much natural evolving.

I disagree. There is no stopping natural selection because it is out of our control. As long as there is a living Earth, there is change, and change will select for some things and not others. Random chance is always at work in every system.

We are constantly evolving, just as Ess said above.

Idiocracy

A 21-Skwerl Salute for the Dizzy Twirling Hippy Chick!

"Your only true land based hope are aerodynamically correct goats." JT
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Jack Tarr
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Chief Twanger Plunker
We will continue to evolve. We are in fact the only species that has some control over how we go about it. We can let it happen naturally as we and the earth ages or we can alter natural selection by destroying ourselves and all we've accomplished. The way our population is increasing, I expect the latter to take place.
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Almonaster
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Actually, I believe the rate of change is increasing!
You use a mirror to see your face. You use works of art to see your soul. ~ G. B. Shaw

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I'm in ur detailz likin' ur sinz. :evil:
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