Forums > Social Discussion > Will humans ever evolve?
Login/Join to ParticipateBRONZE Member
member
85 posts
Location: Scotland (UK)
member
85 posts
Location: Scotland (UK)
Posted:
This point is probably widely discussed but it occured to me today that the human race may never improve through evolution.
Evolution occurs through survival of the fittest as more efficient mutations in genes are passed on to the next generation but looking at today in no way does a person have to be fit or efficient in the world to reproduce and pass on genes. In this way many bad conditions are being passed on and are becoming so greatly abundant in populations that evolution is just taking a swing in the wrong direction.
How will the human race ever adapt to ever changing conditions if the dense population we have is ever increasing without the best genes being passed on?
If anyone has something to say on this I'd really appreciate it. Cheers, Chimney.
This point is probably widely discussed but it occured to me today that the human race may never improve through evolution.
Evolution occurs through survival of the fittest as more efficient mutations in genes are passed on to the next generation but looking at today in no way does a person have to be fit or efficient in the world to reproduce and pass on genes. In this way many bad conditions are being passed on and are becoming so greatly abundant in populations that evolution is just taking a swing in the wrong direction.
How will the human race ever adapt to ever changing conditions if the dense population we have is ever increasing without the best genes being passed on?
If anyone has something to say on this I'd really appreciate it. Cheers, Chimney.
SILVER Member
I make my own people.
607 posts
Location: Nashville, Tennessee, USA
I make my own people.
607 posts
Location: Nashville, Tennessee, USA
Posted:
Ok seriously that's too scary. Can you imagine every discussion jeff and I have had multiplied by ten?
Written by: Birgit
I'm just now imagining 10 little Patriarchs in the discussions forum on HoP, you know...
Written by: Sym
With 10 little Jeffs to play with?
Ok seriously that's too scary. Can you imagine every discussion jeff and I have had multiplied by ten?
BRONZE Member
had her carpal tunnel surgery already thanks v much
4,145 posts
Location: Edinburgh, Scotland (UK)
had her carpal tunnel surgery already thanks v much
4,145 posts
Location: Edinburgh, Scotland (UK)
Posted:
well, on the positive side, whoever would survive would DEFINITELY be the next step in human evolution
well, on the positive side, whoever would survive would DEFINITELY be the next step in human evolution
"vices are like genitals - most are ugly to behold, and yet we find that our own are dear to us."
(G.W. Dahlquist)
Owner of Dragosani's left half
BRONZE Member
wandering thru the woods of WI
3,556 posts
Location: Wisconsin, USA
wandering thru the woods of WI
3,556 posts
Location: Wisconsin, USA
Posted:
yeah if that happens please put me out of my misery...though he has been nice and quiet...how i prefer my men
Written by: Patriarch917Written by: Birgit
I'm just now imagining 10 little Patriarchs in the discussions forum on HoP, you know...Written by: Sym
With 10 little Jeffs to play with?
Ok seriously that's too scary. Can you imagine every discussion jeff and I have had multiplied by ten?
yeah if that happens please put me out of my misery...though he has been nice and quiet...how i prefer my men
Faith
Nay, whatever comes one hour was sunlit and the most high gods may not make boast of any better thing than to have watched that hour as it passed
Scientist of Fortune
1,189 posts
Location: Edinburgh
1,189 posts
Location: Edinburgh
Posted:
I've more or less accepted that Pat is beyond help, so I don't try an more. I just sit back with a margarita and chuckle.
Written by: faithinfireWritten by: Patriarch917Written by: Birgit
I'm just now imagining 10 little Patriarchs in the discussions forum on HoP, you know...Written by: Sym
With 10 little Jeffs to play with?
Ok seriously that's too scary. Can you imagine every discussion jeff and I have had multiplied by ten?
yeah if that happens please put me out of my misery...though he has been nice and quiet...how i prefer my men
I've more or less accepted that Pat is beyond help, so I don't try an more. I just sit back with a margarita and chuckle.
According to Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle of Quantum Dynamics, we may already be making love right now...
BRONZE Member
wandering thru the woods of WI
3,556 posts
Location: Wisconsin, USA
wandering thru the woods of WI
3,556 posts
Location: Wisconsin, USA
Posted:
oooh and drunk talk about sweetening the deal
oooh and drunk talk about sweetening the deal
Faith
Nay, whatever comes one hour was sunlit and the most high gods may not make boast of any better thing than to have watched that hour as it passed
GOLD Member
HOP Mad Doctor
13,925 posts
Location: San Francisco, CA, USA
HOP Mad Doctor
13,925 posts
Location: San Francisco, CA, USA
Posted:
Yanno, it's those redneck tennessee trailer-trash and their fifteen kids...
Written by: Patriarch917
A trojan characteristic, huh? A negative trait piggybacking on a positive one and only occasionally manifesting itself would certainly be able to spread as long as the positive affects outweighed the negative.
If I had a gene that made all of my children very fertile, but with a 10% chance of developing anorexia, then 9 of my children might survive and thrive, passing on the gene. The 10th might starve to death by 20 without children. However, the gene (along with the 10% chance of anorexia) would be carried on by the other children.
Yanno, it's those redneck tennessee trailer-trash and their fifteen kids...
-Mike
Certified Mad Doctor and HoP High Priest of Nutella
A buckuht n a hooze! -Valura
member
74 posts
Location: Kamloops, BC
74 posts
Location: Kamloops, BC
Posted:
Actually this is a viable form of genetic mutation. Red Blood Cell Anemia is one such example, where in the presence of Maleria this is a beneficial trait since it reduces/minimilizes the effect the virus has upon you -- it is considered an advantageous trait, since exposure to Maleria-strains over hundreds of generations it's a "positive" trait, and is reproduced.
However in Europe where the virus is not present, it is a "negative" trait as it inhibits oxygen carrying capacity and would not assist in your ability to survive.
I'll just point out that evolution isn't really "survival of the fittest", evolution in the long run is "survival of the most able to ADAPT". As, traits that are beneficial to specific enviroments and allow species to thrive tend to be polarized, and lead to the species being unable to adjust to changes in climate, food sources, and other influences.
In the short term (100,000's of years) being more "fit" based on specific traits tends to be more positive, however when you start taking into account several million years the ability to have more "general" traits is better-- take into account surviving ice ages, planetary disasters (ok, generally nothing bigger than a mouse makes it through those :P).
Humans as a species are very adaptable -- it is unlikely that anything short of a global catastrophe or our own actions are going to wipe us out. We are able to control and adapt our food sources. We can survive in generally all climates, we are fairly resiliant to viruses and other infectious diseases. Our ability to alter our enviroment to our suiting is unique to the extent we are able to do it.
While we may still evolve more complex brain functions and the like, the truth is it's nothing we're going to particularily notice as a species. Most of our civilizations have been constructed and destroyed in the last 10-15,000 years, with a bigger emphasis on the last 6-8,000. In the terms of evolution and the like our "civilized" era is hardly even a blip.
Lets face it, we're more likely to wipe ourselves out in the next 10,000 years through our own actions than we are to notice some form of "evolution" within our own species.
Written by: Patriarch917
A trojan characteristic, huh? A negative trait piggybacking on a positive one and only occasionally manifesting itself would certainly be able to spread as long as the positive affects outweighed the negative.
Actually this is a viable form of genetic mutation. Red Blood Cell Anemia is one such example, where in the presence of Maleria this is a beneficial trait since it reduces/minimilizes the effect the virus has upon you -- it is considered an advantageous trait, since exposure to Maleria-strains over hundreds of generations it's a "positive" trait, and is reproduced.
However in Europe where the virus is not present, it is a "negative" trait as it inhibits oxygen carrying capacity and would not assist in your ability to survive.
I'll just point out that evolution isn't really "survival of the fittest", evolution in the long run is "survival of the most able to ADAPT". As, traits that are beneficial to specific enviroments and allow species to thrive tend to be polarized, and lead to the species being unable to adjust to changes in climate, food sources, and other influences.
In the short term (100,000's of years) being more "fit" based on specific traits tends to be more positive, however when you start taking into account several million years the ability to have more "general" traits is better-- take into account surviving ice ages, planetary disasters (ok, generally nothing bigger than a mouse makes it through those :P).
Humans as a species are very adaptable -- it is unlikely that anything short of a global catastrophe or our own actions are going to wipe us out. We are able to control and adapt our food sources. We can survive in generally all climates, we are fairly resiliant to viruses and other infectious diseases. Our ability to alter our enviroment to our suiting is unique to the extent we are able to do it.
While we may still evolve more complex brain functions and the like, the truth is it's nothing we're going to particularily notice as a species. Most of our civilizations have been constructed and destroyed in the last 10-15,000 years, with a bigger emphasis on the last 6-8,000. In the terms of evolution and the like our "civilized" era is hardly even a blip.
Lets face it, we're more likely to wipe ourselves out in the next 10,000 years through our own actions than we are to notice some form of "evolution" within our own species.
GOLD Member
organic creation
246 posts
Location: earth, Wales (UK)
organic creation
246 posts
Location: earth, Wales (UK)
Posted:
Written by: Eamonn Healy, professor at University of Texas
If we’re looking at the highlights of human development, you have to look at the evolution of the organism and then at the development of its interaction with the environment. Evolution of the organism will begin with the evolution of life perceived through the hominid coming to the evolution of mankind. Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon man. Now, interestingly, what you’re looking at here are three strings: biological, anthropological — development of the cities — and cultural, which is human expression.
Now, what you’ve seen here is the evolution of populations, not so much the evolution of individuals. And in addition, if you look at the time scales that are involved here — two billion years for life, six million years for the hominid, 100,000 years for mankind as we know it — you’re beginning to see the telescoping nature of the evolutionary paradigm. And then when you get to agricultural, when you get to scientific revolution and industrial revolution, you’re looking at 10,000 years, 400 years, 150 years. Uou’re seeing a further telescoping of this evolutionary time. What that means is that as we go through the new evolution, it’s gonna telescope to the point we should be able to see it manifest itself within our lifetime, within this generation.
The new evolution stems from information, and it stems from two types of information: digital and analog. The digital is artificial intelligence. The analog results from molecular biology, the cloning of the organism. And you knit the two together with neurobiology. Before on the old evolutionary paradigm, one would die and the other would grow and dominate. But under the new paradigm, they would exist as a mutually supportive, noncompetitive grouping. Okay, independent from the external.
Written by: from 'waking life'
It’s like there’s this whole telepathic thing going on that we’re all a part of, whether we’re conscious of it or not. That would explain why there are all these, you know, seemingly spontaneous, worldwide, innovative leaps in science, in the arts. You know, like the same results poppin’ up everywhere independent of each other. Some guy on a computer, he figures something out, and then almost simultaneously a bunch of other people all over the world figure out the same thing. They did this study. They isolated a group of people over time, and they monitored their abilities at crossword puzzles, right, in relation to the general population. And they secretly gave them a day-old crossword, one that had already been answered by thousands of other people, right. And their scores went up dramatically, like 20 percent. So it’s like once the answers are out there, people can pick up on ‘em. It’s like we’re all telepathically sharing our experiences.
Similar Topics
Using the keywords [human * evolve] we found the following existing topics.
- Forums > How do you think? [16 replies]
- Forums > dumming down the gene pool? [34 replies]
- Forums > Will humans ever evolve? [68 replies]
- Forums > Global brain theory [27 replies]
Show more..
© 1998 - 2024 Home of Poi
All prices converted to United States dollars using XE.com