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Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2007 4:06 am
over the centuries, humans have gotten taller and more erect. this has been our evolutionary pattern. but now that we are in an age where our science, medicine, and technology can alter the very fabric of our existance, thus creating a future for ourselves by ourselves. i want to know if the natural evolution for humans has ended since we can make it ourselves, or if it will continue, just at an even slower rate then before?
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Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2007 11:39 pm
What you have is a misconception of the process of evolution. Evolution is an on-going process, one that doesn't end or have patterns. Things evolve to suit their environment and the circumstances at the time. Walking erect and growing taller was beneficial as the human species developed, but circumstances are always changing. One could argue now that we live in a sophisticated and self-aware society, increased brain power and computing skills "evolve" further. The only "unnatural" evolution for anything would be introducing new genes are altering the ones we already have. However, species of all kinds, including humans, will always be evolving on their own to suit the current situation.
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Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 2:59 pm
Ahoy hoy mooshi mooshi domo domo. Another monday post once again. No time for stretching we be talking about evolution now.
Evolution for humans is...pretty much over in the physical department if anything we be de-evolving in that catagory getting weaker and shorter/skinnier with eatch passing generation..unless you like exercise, but on the other hand brain evolution in humans is somthing that actually is going along rather poorly, as smart people don't have sex (lol). Smart people get married to smart people and then they f*ck around and both get jobs and so mommy smart person can't stay home to raise a smart child so they don't have kids. While country bumpkin and or stupid folk well their off drinking, smoking, and having sex every about *checks watch* I don't have a watch but mark my words they be having sex every 15 minutes, so really if anything evolution if left along in humans now adays would produce more and more stupid babies...*shrug*
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Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2007 12:19 am
You're making quite a few assumptions there, friend.
Firstly, we're not all getting weaker and smaller with each passing generation. Life expectancy is higher than ever, and world records continue to be broken for feats of physical prowess. Americans are among the largest people on record in the history of the planet, and although they're not healthy, they're definitely not getting shorter or skinnier. Contemporary society even seems to be having a renaissance of physical health, with the big scares of childhood obesity and diabetes/heart disease in adults spurring the movement on.
Second, smart people have sex too, just more intelligently, meaning so as not to get pregnant when they aren't ready for it. But sex and kids still happen, even to smart people.
Third, smart people don't always marry smart people, and the same goes for stupid people. Your definitions of "smart" and "stupid" seem rather limited, which makes you ignorant in your own way (note, this is in no way meant to attack your intelligence, you seem like a rather intelligent fellow as far as I can tell).
Fourth, smart people have kids, like mentioned above. The number of professional parents is on the rise, and so is the number of stay-at-home dads.
Fifth, smart people don't always have smart kids, and stupid people don't always have stupid kids. Parents and genes matter, but so does upbringing. There's plenty of kids who are the first in their families to go to college, sometimes the first in their families to graduate high school. Just because some people don't have an education doesn't mean they don't want their kids to get one.
Lastly, you're making the same mistake that spearquest made, and that's thinking that there's a positive and negative path to evolution. There isn't. Evolution just happens, it doesn't progress or degress to some good or bad outcome. Lifeforms will change to fit their environment, and those that survive to reproduce will be the ones whose genes get passed along. It doesn't matter how "good" your genes are if there's no desire to pass them on, so those creatures with the "good" genes may be considered to have "bad" genes of not wanting to continue their lineage.
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Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2007 6:17 pm
I rly dont know and im rly confused right now
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Posted: Sun Jul 22, 2007 11:56 pm
What are you confused about?
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Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2007 10:31 am
Evolution never stops! It goes on forever. It doesn't make a difference if we "create" our evolution or if it is natural. Evolution means to improve and to make the body fit for certain abilities.
In maybe one thousand years, mankind will miss the outer fingers of both hands, because they play no role, also we wouldn't have a problem with shaving; We won't have any hair to shave.
Evolution is maybe expectable, but not calculable, it always created a few surprising things. So, I'd say: sit down, lean back, have a cup of coffee and watch what happens...
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Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2007 8:44 pm
Evolution hasn't stopped but what we're doing to ourselves is moving a whole lot faster than evolution could ever imagine. Also evolution is being ruined because we've found so many other ways besides natural selection to fix our problems. In a perfect evolutionary world the blind, deaf, diabetic would all die and never reproduce thereby killing off that disease from the gene pool. But for better or for worse people love blind, deaf, diabetic people... and so their children will be in danger
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Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2007 2:17 pm
i agree with dboyzero he has a very good point...evolution does not just stop after a certain time if anything the rate might increase because of the rapid changes in our environment...yes we may not notice physical changes but that does not mean mental developments have ceased to continue.. the advanced generation we live in today is a clear example of that on-going evolution. we are more advanced than we realize...certain information is even being kept secret so as we dont know "too much". we are and will always "evolve" but perhaps not always in a physical way.
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Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2007 7:30 am
ok, evolution is a slow process. and many make the assumption that we are.. at this moment in time.. at the height of our evolution and the buck stops here. but that's just because evolutionary changes happen over so long a period of time we dont notice it. for example, we age a little more each day, but we dont see it happening from day to day. each day we are slightly different from the last. this is not evolution per say, but evolution is a lot like that, only one a much grander scale.
the problem we have today, is that we are evolving technologically a lot faster than ever before, and that likely also impedes our evolutionary progress. up until the early 1900s our technological progress was comparatively slow. we've advanced amazingly over the last 100 years. or maybe it will re-direct the evolution of our species... maybe a 1,000 years from now we'll look like aliens. who knows?
but evolution itself doesnt just stop.
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Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2007 5:26 pm
If evolution was a computer process it'd only have two advices. 1. Survive 2. As long as you can!
Evolution is a constant process of fitting the individual existance (though, viruses are no lifeforms) to the environment and the possible hazards!
A good sample for fast "evolution" are rats: They can immunize themselves to poisons in a short time.
Evolution doesn't even stop for humans, today children are born with minor "disabilities" like four fingers. In a few thousand years it won't bother anyone, because then everyone would have only four fingers at each hand.
Evolution is slow. Evolution is nothing more like Mutation. The taller people are a product of a good supply of foods and medication.
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Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2007 4:31 pm
Hellraver If evolution was a computer process it'd only have two advices. 1. Survive 2. As long as you can! Evolution is a constant process of fitting the individual existance (though, viruses are no lifeforms) to the environment and the possible hazards! A good sample for fast "evolution" are rats: They can immunize themselves to poisons in a short time. Evolution doesn't even stop for humans, today children are born with minor "disabilities" like four fingers. In a few thousand years it won't bother anyone, because then everyone would have only four fingers at each hand. Evolution is slow. Evolution is nothing more like Mutation. The taller people are a product of a good supply of foods and medication.@bold.. I dont know about that. food supply may have something to do with it, but not medicines. a persons stature is more determined by their family genetics and that of the dominant race their family belongs to. whatever the evolutionary reasons are that determine how tall or short on average a race of people are, I dont know. it could do with food supply but then it would also be directly connected to the environment our ancestors lived in as well, since it's the environment that supports the food supply. one could argue that available medicine is also determined by the physical environment of the race, but even in todays society some of the richest and most well fed people (so, being rich they'd have access to good medicine and vitamins) are still short. it's 'cause it's in their genes to be short.
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