Do you think humans are still 'evolving'?

Question

What wld we be like in the future, say 10,000 years from now?

Answer 1

Probably. I do think that the nature of our evolution was changed dramatically by the invention of jet travel. That may well be the most important event in the history of evolution, as geographic isolation is largely gone now.

One hundred years ago you and everyone you knew were almost certain to have children only with others who were born within a couple of hundred miles of where you were born. Today it is not at all unusual for a person to have children with someone born on another continent. That's not quite the norm, but it's common enough to have a dramatic impact on the direction and speed of evolution.

Advances in medical care also have a dramatic impact, but I think that jet travel may be even more significant.

Answer 2

Evolution is a result of changes in environment. It is not a "response". It is not intelligent. It is simply a way to describe what happens when an environment changes in a way that won't support the majority of a species.

When you use an antibiotic soap, properly, 99.9% of ordinary household bacteria are killed. But 0.1% survive to grow and multiply. When the soap is used on them, they don't die. They have evolved resistance simply by surviving when most wouldn't. Similarly, giraffes have long necks because some giraffe-like animal with a shorter neck couldn't eat enough leaves to live long enough to generate children. No giraffe spontaneously stretched or grew a longer neck. Only the already longer-necked children survived. Now they predominate.

Mutations occur spontaneously all the time. Recessive genes may or may not be expressed depending on the roll of the DNA dice. If a difference is advantageous, the carrier is more likely to survive and pass the genes on to a child. If disadvantageous, it is more likely to die out. If neutral, it may come and go. The point is, the changes occur between generations, not during one creature's lifetime.

Humans do not appear to be evolving because our environment is suitable for our survival. The same is true for most other animals. If the environment changes beyond a species' ability to adapt, it will either go extinct or a few mutants will survive to replenish or replace the species.

Speciation may occur without extinction if both the old and new environments exist in different areas. Speciation is simply an indication that the change is profound enough that old and new can no longer interbreed and produce fertile offspring.

Humans are very adaptable. They can make tools that will enable them to survive in otherwise lethal environments. But not everyone can live everywhere humans could live. Our resources have a limit. If the environment changes significantly, say, through global warming, magnetic field shift or some other major event, we could soon see a demonstration of evolution in action.

Answer 3

...Still evolving? I was never convinced that humans (and animal species) evolved at all. People have always been people, and reproduced after their kind - and no "transitional forms" have ever been found - if what many scientists say is true, there should be millions of them.
...10,000 years from now, if humans are still here, they will still be humans.

Answer 4

Of course we are. Some babies that are born HIV positive are able to toss off the infection. They have an evolutionary advantage. If most of those babies are black, the population will tend to shift towards a black majority. If most are white, the whites have the advantage. If most of the whites have blond hair, the population will reflect that.

Some traits just go along for the ride along with the evolutionary plusses.

However, it would be impossible to predict if humans will evolve in such a way that they species will survive 10,000 years. Evolution has no direction other than survival. If the dumbest people have an evolutionary advantage, human IQ would drop overall. Ditto for short people.

Answer 5

I think that were still evolving, but at a much slower rate than we used to, because we have the ability to pick and choose our mates based on appearance, and mutations would probably thin out at an even faster rate than in animals who don't choose a mate based on appearance. However if the sun was to keep getting brighter and hotter, than in the future we could all have blue skin to help protect us from the sun's rays.

Answer 6

Yes.

We are getting taller for one thing. Look at beds from the 1600s. You don't fit. Our jaws are getting smaller too which is why you probably had to get your wisdom teeth pulled.

I don't know what we will look like in 10,000 years but it will be a little different. I could make a few guesses, but they would be just that.

Answer 7

Are humans still evolving? Apparently not the humans on this forum.

Answer 8

HUMAN OR ANYTHING ELSE DOES NOT EVOLVE.

That is ridiculous!!! I can't believe humans can be brainwashed this easily!

There are paintings from 3000 years ago and humans looked the same as today!

Natural selection does not make humans evolve. Our DNA has information and limits to that information. All the races in the world put together complete the DNA. Kinds cannot change. Although there are varieties in the human kind.

Evolution is a lie.

Answer 9

We are still evolving. I would have no idea how we will look 10,000 from now. We are slowly loosing our appendix and tonsils, as there is no longer a need for them. We will change alot, I am sure.

Answer 10

I'm not sure. The weak humans don't really die because were smart enough to take care of them and they can still reproduce..it's not really survival of the fittest anymore.