Is the evolution process on with humans as well?

Question

Will the human race evolve into something different from its present form and become a seperate species altogether

Answer 1

I think humans are no longer subject to the forces of natural selection, as a result of their having developed sentience and science, thus interfering with the classic factor affecting evolution: survival traits.

Sooner or later, any species will develop mutations. In nature, whether these mutations are incorporated into the evolving species is determined by whether the mutation contributes to the survival of the individual and/or the continuation of the species. The survival of some humans but not others is influenced enormously by technology, so a survival trait is not "dark skin in a hot region" so much as it is "the good fortune to be born in the 1st world."

Further, whether a person reproduces successfuly is no longer limited to healthy individuals that are considered attractive by their partner, or at least capable of dominating their partner and any others that are competing for attention. People make bad choices all the time, passing on their genes for ugliness, stupidity, and unhealthiness. There are enough ugly stupid people walking around with the ugly stupid results of their alcohol-fueled lost-inhibitions, and the role that science plays in helping infertile couples to reproduce and unhealthy children to survive for me to be convinced this is true.

Meanwhile, the technological advances made by humans - while on the one hand have served to extend the life expectancy and ensure the proliferation of the individual - on the other hand have largely served to hasten the final destruction of the species through a completely unnatural act, leaving the repopulation of earth up to whomever was able to figure out how to get into a bunker and thrive before it was too late. Natural selection will dramatically affect the future of the current dominant primate once the surface is a post-apocalyptic radioactive wasteland, crawling with mutants.

Answer 2

>> Is the evolution process on with humans as well?
Yes.

>> Will the human race evolve into something different from its present form and become a seperate species altogether
Eventually. We're a very successful species, and not separated into small isolated populations. It will take a long time for us to give rise to a different species.

Answer 3

Evolution is an effect, not a cause. The causes of evolution (genetic mutation, environmental change, etc) can't be turned off.

However, we are one of the few animals that can adapt our environment to us and no longer are bound by geographic isolation, which tends to drive divergence from parent species. So the rate of evolutionary change may be different than in the past, but I am speculating. Also, human beings have existed in a relatively stable environment for hundreds of thousands of years.


To answer your question, we would have to fast forward probably 100,000 to 200,000 years in the future to see the sum total of changes to the human species.

Answer 4

humans are already a separate species, having separated from their nearest ape ancestors more than a million years ago, I forget the latest estimate. If humans can manage their existance on the planet they will continue, over time, to respond to their environment and to the possibilities inherent in their genetic code.

Answer 5

There are theories that as humans eat more and more processed foods, we will slowly lose our teeth and have smaller mouths. I don't know if that will ever happen, but I do believe that humans go through an evolutionary process.

Answer 6

Humans are evoling with every generation. Our own desires in reproduction, loses in the gene pool from war, and the very fact that you have survived diseases and will pass the surivival gene on to your children proves it.

Answer 7

Yes... supposedly we're going to evolve out of the need for opposable thumbs... they're kind of excess appendages...

Answer 8

yes, with only a fraction of our brain being used, hopefully we will start using more of our unused brain for good.

Answer 9

hm....probably not, we would all be dead by an asteroid hitting the earth by then.