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Since average height has increased dramatically over the last couple of hundreds of years, will it continue to rise?
I know that at a certain height it becomes disadvantageous to be so tall because your organs can't cope, will evolution take use to just below this point? WIll women always be shorter than men on average? Will Asian average height eventually rival that of Europe?
I know no one knows for sure but some informed opinions would be great.

2006-11-16 07:52:55 · 3 answers · asked by Jethro 5 in Society & Culture Other - Society & Culture

"Evolution isn't real. It's a theory. And not a very good one. Ask the people of Asia how tall they have grown. Not very much. Evolution has never been proved to be true. Nice try."

Of course it's a theory, nothing can be completely proven. But Many scientists accept it as fact, it is a very convincing theory. Can you explain why 'it's not a very good one'? What do you believe in, creationism? You stated that it 'isn't real', when really you don't know.
The Dutch have gone from being one of the shortest peoples in Europe to the tallest in the world in the space of 100 years, the fact that their height has changed dramatically is indisputable. My question still applies, even disregarding evolution. Please try to be constructive.

2006-11-16 08:08:13 · update #1

3 answers

Not all changes in a species reflect changes in the genome. In the case of height, it reflects improved nutrition, and improved general health due to sanitation and reduction in childhood illness due to vaccination. Since we are probably approaching the limits of the environmental factors, evolutionary forces will seek a new equilibrium. The evolutionary forces that create advantages in height in a post-industrial society will be different than in our agrarian past. We have crafted our environment. Will there be a survival advantage for not having to duck through doorways? Many factors will be social. Height can be used to intimidate, which may help in getting a raise. There's the old cliche, "tall, dark, and handsome". How much will height help in getting a "better" mate? Lastly, with environmental factors balanced accross the species, will we see a tendency towards uniformity at an optimum height. It may turn out that the variance will be more telling than the mean. The next 10,000 years will give us a hint.

2006-11-16 14:10:17 · answer #1 · answered by novangelis 7 · 2 0

Evolution isn't real. It's a theory. And not a very good one. Ask the people of Asia how tall they have grown. Not very much. Evolution has never been proved to be true. Nice try.

2006-11-16 07:56:15 · answer #2 · answered by RIDLEY 6 · 0 3

pretty good chance
it probably will stop before we reach space and we don't say goodbye to the human race

2006-11-16 07:58:27 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0 1

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