Thread: Has mankind stopped evolving?

was just thinking about it since . it has always been strongest survives in history .. now it is not

Evolution never stops.

Human evolution has shown measureable changes over the past couple thousand years, such as Tibetans evolving to tolerate thin atmosphere, and Europeans evolving lactose tolerance as adults.

We cannot see evolution happening, of course, since it is so slow. But there are always changes.

I notice a trend towards hair loss and blindness with a touch of people going crazy.

That's just politics!

Originally Posted by fulskit

was just thinking about it since . it has always been strongest survives in history .. now it is not

Not exactly correct. (That's to say, wrong.)
The fittest survive - that is different from the strongest. Today the environments in which humans live are different to one hundred or one thousand years ago and consequently the genetic makeup that constitute fit has changed. Evolution continues to alter the gene pool.

Will genetic mutation play a key role in our evolution?

Genetic mutation always plays a key role in evolution.

Then we need to stop all production of plastics,nuclear power plants and pretty much all technologies from the last 30 years.

Why? Do you think that will stop mutations? Mutations occur completely naturally. You are correct that many aspects of modern technology may marginally increase mutation rates, but eliminating those things would have no practical effect.
Also, why do you want to stop evolution? That seems a bizarre objective.

why do you want to stop evolution?

Maybe we're perfect just as we are.

More likely, the idea of change is a bit threatening. Long-lived creatures like us are just as unlikely to witness evolutionary changes in our sub-groups or the species as a whole as all those experimental mice and fruitflies are - unless the changes we're talking about mean we'll live as long as a score of current generations. So any threat of this sort is an invisible one anyway.

The real problem is probably the word itself - mutation. Too many horror films. Too much focus on the (real) risks of radiation exposure. Suddenly we overlook that mutation in and of itself is neutral. It's a change. Just as often good as bad. The bad/ unfit/ sterile dies out. The good becomes the new norm.

Very good post.We are perfect in many ways.

And imperfect in many ways as well.

I would bet that genetic evolution is still moving at about exactly the same speed it always moved. It's just such a slow process when compared with the other avenues for progress (such as cultural and technological evolution) that it appears to have stood still when compared against them.

Let's not stop evolution Who's to say we're perfect? Anyway, I think evolution is ongoing today. Though very very gradual, it should still be happening.

And because of our unique level of intelligence, our technological support adds to our "fitness", in terms of natural selection. Though not natural, it would help us survive, therefore reproduce, and continue as a species... until we reach a threshold of anatomical differences that we would consider a new, evolved organism.

What's not 'natural' about technology?

Humans evolved here on planet Earth. We are native to it, and we have a place here. We evolved as technology using animals, and evolved the ability to design better and better technology. For us, it is just as 'natural' as anything else in this world.

I see what you're saying. It's truly how one were to look at technology. Bird nests are birds' technology because they are products of the birds, and not processes that don't involve living intervention, and help them in the evolutionary process. So humans are the same with our systems and mechanisms... just so happens that it often involves complex circuitry and various mechanical processes... So by "not natural", I meant without the intervention of living things. Because we all know entropy hates to build bird nests