Concerning Evolution, is it perhaps plausable that there is a reversal?

Question

in our evolution. That in fact we are not becoming smarter but less intellegent? The de-evolution of man idea suggests that as we depend more on the physical, scientific, process we actually give up a little more of a spiritual dimension.
If this is possible (is it plausible to you?) what are some other ideas that support this?

Answer 1

I think you might be correct about such a concept in general, the shift towards facts over more intutitive understandings, but i think theres a bit of a distinction to be made about terms and the viewpoint.

I dont really think this is an evolutionary change in the biological sense as the change you are talking about is societal not biological. Socialization shapes how we view the world, not necesairly how our brain is hardwired. If you were looking at some kind of cultural evolution then perhaps it would be possible to better ground this argument under a potentially more accurate framework.

However i question whether or not the premise is a bit flawed, although there is certainly something that is lost when society rationalizes and turns positivistic, im not sure if this is necesarily a bad thing. Although the spirtual dimension supports a wide range of good things for individuals and society, it also can be increasingly problematic, as we are finding potentially in strict fundamentalist definitions of what is right and wrong.

It boils down to whether or not one feels the potential for humanity is greater in an intuitive or rationalized society. I certainly dont want to make your opinion for you, but if you want to support your idea its possible you could argue under the grounds that people are less happier even though we are making progress technologically. It is difficult to study religiosity or common sense and the like as like many things they are societal by nature, but you could potentially make arguments there as well.

Answer 2

evolution does not mean progress as we think of it. its a blind process that doesn't guarantee the smartest, strongest, or fastest win, only those best at reporducing their genes. If dumber people are better at reproducing, then over time humans will evolve to be less intelligent. This is well backed up by science. But there are so many popular misunderstandings about evolution that people don't realze this. A lot of people think that evolution necessarily leads to smarter or stronger organisms. So, from a purely biological point of view, your view is possible.

And arguably something like this is happening. Modern culture allows for a lot of people who would have died off before to live and reproduce. There is less natural selection pressure on individuals because nearly everybody, despite any strengths or weaknesses they have, leaves the same number of offspring. But this isn't really a bad thing. Increased genetic fitness is not an end in itself (despite what the nazis believed) but only the means to an end. If we can obtain that end (of people living long, fulfilling lives) artificially, through culture and technology, then there is no problem. Another common misconception about evolution is that it means that all that matters is genes, that something that makes your gene pool bad is wrong and something that makes it good is right.

So we may be "devolving," but its still evolution in the biological sense, and its not necessarily bad.

Answer 3

Modern medicine is making (or more likely has made) natural selection impotent, at least in the more advanced societies. Anyone can survive with the proper care. Survival depends in part on the inheritance of money, which is not a biological factor. Maybe some day the poor countries will develop into super evolved beings who are immune to disease. I don't understand what your idea is though. Why are relying on physical processes and spirituality mutually exclusive? And what do you mean by relying on physical processes?

Answer 4

1. How exactly does evolution work in the context of our life experiences? -I don't know what you mean here exactly. I'll choose a way. We are basically survival machines for genes. 2. Can decisions we make like alcohol use or the music we listen to affect our evolution? -Not ours since we do not evolve over our life span. However, if you mean over the course of our species, then maybe. If a gene benefiting the digestion of alcohol or a gene benefiting a sense of rhythm crops up and gets passed on, sure. Maybe the gene "for" alcoholism will eventually die out. Depends on if alcoholics actually reproduce surviving children enough. 3. I was wondering how we are able to pass antibodies to our children. Is it through our dna? -Mother's breast milk greatly aids in this. That's why breastfeeding is so important. 4. I also wondered how our life experiences are passed on to become instincts (still thinking dna.) -There's a relatively new (well, newly serious) field called "epigenetics." The idea is that things acquired just during our lives can affect our children. I've linked you to an article.

Answer 5

When human beings developed the intelligence to create more complex cultures, cultural evolution became the species' method of adaptation rather than biological evolution. Rather than wait for multiple generations of genetic weeding cause by biological pressures, human beings gained the ability to think of and implement solutions immediately. This has allowed human beings to defy, or at least greatly alter, natural selection.
I saw in the news last week that evolutionary theorist Oliver Curry has recently hypothesized that our species will split into two subspecies in the next 100,000 years or so due to an artificial "cultural selection," but according to my understanding of evolution, I don't see human beings de-evolving. Given that there are no biological pressures on our species forcing it to evolve that we are not addressing culturally (such as through modern medicine) and that there is such a great amount of intermingling of genetic material, humans seem to have plateaued evolutionarily.
A case could be argued that humans are becoming weaker genetically as the weeding process of natural selection is curbed by modern medicine, allowing millions who would otherwise have died to live and pass on their seed. In isolated populations, genetic defects become very common, since without the influx of new genetic material, recessive genes have greater chance to manifest. However, as I mentioned, I think that genetic material from across the world is intermixed well enough that humanity as a whole is fairly strong genetically.
I certainly agree that a person's dependence on technology and modern conveniences can cause a loss of a degree of spirituality, but I think that that is more of a philosophical or theological problem than a biological or evolutionary one.

(I am certainly no expert on these matters, by the way; anyone who knows more about biology, please offer fact corrections as necessary.)

Answer 6

The only thing I would add to this is, we only think.. we are smarter or more intelligent, yet we now know in the scientific arena that this is a world of imagination/not real. and the spiritual side of us is ignored for the ego, so in essence we are coming to the realization slowly that the hole meaning of the fall of man or ie.. kicked out of the garden, was that we gave up our spiritual dimension, we think there is a cause and effect, yet there is only a cause and we are its effect. So my friend you are picking up the proper mind , stay with it and on this path.

I AM

Answer 7

Science proves that you do not (naturally) get order from chaos. You get chaos from order. Thus de-evolution is more plausable than evolution.

People also often forget that evolution has survival of the fittest tied to it. People who hold to evolution as a means of advancing a race must also hold to survival of the fittest. Thus validating the actions of school shooters, Hitler, Pol Pot, terrorism and mass murder in general.

Answer 8

Evolution - in the Darwinian sense - doesn't necessarily mean we're getting better, smarter or more well-dressed. It means that those who survive and reproduce are those who are best adapted to their environment.

Answer 9

Evolution us NOT movement from "less advanced" to "more advanced". from "stupid" to "smart" etc etc.
It is simple movement to be BETTER adopted to the environment. So if people do INDEED become stupider it not "de-evolution" it is still EVOLUTION.

Answer 10

Evolution means change. There is no backwards or forwards.