h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

the more we create conveniences, the less we adapt. if you live totally comfortable in your life with all these "pleasures", there is no need for you to adapt therefore your offspring will not mutate into a better-adapted organism. polar bears are furry because they live in the cold, and to keep body heat, they evolved fur. but if you go live in the cold, you would wear layers of clothing so you feel comfortable, and your offspring will not be especially hairy. and now that we are curing all these diseases, natural selection has quit or gone on vacation or something. normally(and humans are not normal creatures), if there is a disease, a lot of creatures would die but those with an unusual immunity to it, therefore since they have that special trait they would survive as a better species. now, you just get stabbed and you are immune, no need to evolve therefore we wont. humans suck.

and you might say, poor people cant afford things, so they usually die, there, natural selection. you might even say "booyah". i dont get what that means. but listen, if you are rich now, what makes sure your kids will be rich? banks? what if your bank blew up? your kids will have nothing. so you would be equal to a poor person. and if they have better genes than you and your inferior, spoiled children, who do you think will survive longer? someone who is used to surviving without cash, or someone who just lost it all?

Hmm, with all due respect, I think you might be missing something here. For one thing, the ability of an organism to adapt to its environment is not limited to soley physical traits such as fur and claws and things - brains, or more accurately intelligence and consciousness, have been the hallmark (some might say the only) reason why we humans have advanced so far and become so proliferated across the Earth. I would say that it is clear that the human species' evolution has been in the mental, brain area - and not just intelligence, but the whole kit and kabootle that comes with it: ethics and morality, emotions and empathy, all the good and the bad that we can dream up has been and continues to be a part of our evolutionary progress.

In reference to your second post, I caution you to think beyond the concept of wealth as being the only measure of the human species' success. It might be our brains, our consciousness that is "supposed" to evolve. I would point out that you might consider that the theory of evolution is just that, a theory. It should be ever-changing itself as new observations are made and tests performed. One modification that I just mentioned might come from sociology and psychology, which might suggest that there is more to evolution than simple blind propogation of the species. There might be a goal more closely related to the concept of quality of life. Yes, this line of thought has lead many a mystic/religious fanatic/science fiction author to some pretty incredible and/or entertaining concepts, but that doesn't mean the possibility should be discounted.

Just some for thought.

- JD

Upright stance, vocal cords and opposable thumbs.

'nuff said.

yes, we are pretty well evolved, but have you seen any new, special hominids anywhere on the news? anyone that could breathe underwater, or fly(lol, just kidding, but seriously), according to nature, everything changes, and we must change with it. the way we are doing it is totally unhealthy. you should adapt physically also, i think we should quit with all the technology stuff and let nature take its course.





(let the weaklings DIE!!!) *insert evil laugh here*

ahem.

Hmmhmm...I think you may be misjudging the rate at which evolution has an effect.

Although saying that I did read something about blood types having changed with our diet? I think I probably misunderstood.

As for abandoning technology - this planet can not support 6 billion hunter-gatherers.

I can (and do) breath underwater and fly. Just because I use my brain to develop technology to aid me in both endeavors is no reason to say that such a thing is not a product of my species' evolution. Do you see any other beings using technology (and thus their brains) to fly or breath underwater?

- JD

Humans are not the only beings on the face of this Earth with all three of those characteristics. Yet we are still, to my knowledge, the only species with technology. I am not making a call one way or another as to technology being good or bad, I am merely arguing that to discount it as part of our evolution is to make a rather poor assumption, IMHO.

- JD

evolution of the human race has not slowed at all. it will always feel like this because of how slow evolution is. humans have only been aroun on earth for a minute time. if the history of time was represented by 24hrs human beings of only been around for the last second, and yet we've managed to become the only species on earth who invent, who make things.

yes, i know this planet cannot support 6 billion nomads, and it wasnt meant to. the planet cannot even support 6 billion technologically advanced humans, look what we are doing to it! technology is only helping us, its disturbing the way things should be. i dont see many people going out to help animals using technology. yes, there are some, but compare the percentages of the whole population. more hurt than help, in the big picture which is mother earth. and the reason we create technology is to help with our natural inconveniences. we are letting almost everyone survive, no matter how weak they are. we are thinning out the strength in the gene pool! i know, im being inhumane, but im thinking about the big picture! if we let nature take its course, the weaklings would die, and we would have stronger genes in the gene pool, leading to stronger future species. but instead, we let even the weaklings survive, have children, leading to nothing but more weaklings. its not right, in my opinion(which counts as a percentage of a percentage in the universe, so pay no full heed). thanks for letting me vent, heh.

Well, 10,000 years or so of civilization is a blip in evolution and will have hardly any impact whatsoever.

Consider also this, if its easier for humans to survive now, then that allows a greater diversity. This means that should things suddenly turn nasty, there almost certainly be enough humans to survive it.

Then also you have to consider that, as someone mentioned, use of technology is a new survival strategy, and will simply favour different traits.

The survival of the fittest is only part of evolution too. Far more important in today's society is the shagging of the fittest. Oh dear Nietzsche that was awful.

The planet could support 6 billion humans if we got our distribution of resources sorted out right. Unfortunately, all the politicians get in the way at the moment.

Callooh! Callay!

I agree totally, for the most part.

Technology has had a negative effect on evolution for some time. People with bad eyesight, apendicitis, or many disadvantagous traits are now equally likely to survive to pass it on to their children. Likewise, people with beneficial traits, such as intelligence, often chose to persue careers instead reproducing and raising offspring.

But since the human genome has been mapped, it is now possible for parents to select which traits their offspring will have, thereby effectively harnessing evolution to progress in whichever direction we choose. This is not a completely new concept. Selective breeding (genetic engineering) of plants as well as animals has been used for hundreds of years to modify the food we eat.

Now, if we choose, we can use the same process to guide the destiny of the human race. We can make our future generations resistant to cancer, or adapted to living in space. Let's just hope our ethics evolve to keep up with our technology.

Thank you! Precisely what I've been trying to say for a while now, only the words keep jumping out of my mouth. Heh, finally, someone with better vocabulary and explanation skills to explain what i meant to. thanks!

the issue is much more about our choices now. We know that evolution takes thousands of years and our brains are the largest and most evolved on the planet (though by some evidence, clearly not the case).

The question now is: our bodies are built to defy gravity and do physical work (whether that's for pay or pleasure is up to us); our minds have all the potential in the world in them.
Our minds have created a technoogy which largely eliminates the need for hard physical labour. As a result, we've developed all kinds of problems because we're much less active than we used to be.....and so few of us are willing to get out and be physical for fun.

Are we simply going to keep working our minds and ignore our bodies? We need a balance of the two: a thinking mind in an active body. some achieve that and many don't.

We also need a social structure. We've got phones and fax, email and writing, TV and radio. What we ache for is personal contact with other people. Variety of experiences.

Are we going to change our social structure to give us the physical activity our bodies need, the mental challenges our minds need, and the social interaction that even introverts need?
Or are we going to continue to do nothing and blame the technology?

fruitbat

It seems to me that the only thing people are going to evolve any more are larger sex organs...

according to the spam folder in my mailbox, you don't need to evolve that.

I don't think that evolution has stopped because of our technology, but there really isn't any way of knowing in our lifetime. It has been mentioned that on a time line stretching back over the history of life on Earth, we are little more than a drop in the bucket. And recorded history is even shorter. With that in mind, it is exceedingly difficult to see evolution at work within our own species.

There is, however, obvious ongoing change within us that is visible and amazing. We're taller on average because of better nutrition. Our brains are larger, (I note the higher forehead and lack of a pronounced brow ridge), and more efficient because of better and more accessible protein and proper fats and amino acids in our diet.

There is evidence of evolution in different regions of the world. Some of us live in sunnier regions than others and boast darker skin that is better suited to protecting us from the harmful, more direct rays of the sun. Others live in areas were great distances must be traveled from place to place on foot and are capable of running great distances with ease. Some live in colder regions and are noticeably huskier and better able to survive the climate they are in.

If I had the time, I could probably go on and on pointing out the subtle differences in us all that evolution has created, the differences that make living on this world a wonderful thing. But I think you can see my point. Evolution doesn't often work in leaps and bounds like it does in the X-men. As disappointing as that is, I really would enjoy Wolverine's phenomenal senses and healing. Mother Nature is a slow and patient artist. Evolution is a subtle thing, changing us a little at a time. A nudge here, a tweak there, altering us a little at a time despite the forces of technology that may be endeavoring to stem Nature's inevitable tide.

Just a few thoughts.

"...I note the higher forehead and lack of a pronounced brow ridge..."

Speak for yourself. Me still draggin' me knuckles.

Humanity has evolved into specialty subsets, it seems to me:

Earth-living-competent peoples;
Button-pushers;
Whiners;
Deviants;
Consumers ;
Genetically-predisposed disease hosts.

I remember reading a speculative piece in Playboy back in the 'sixties, which mentioned that the future male would need huge testicles to produce, on the off-chance, a few normal sperm.
The eyes would evolve to adapt to video input, and the index fingers would be quite large.

Are we having fun yet?