Is evolution starting to reverse itself?

Question

For millions of years, humans have been getting faster, smarter and more developed.

Is this process coming to a halt?

Are humans now becoming slower, thicker and fatter ?

Answer 1

The process is slowing due to modern medicine, but evolution does not ever "reverse" itself.

Answer 2

Evolution doesn't always lead to more complex organisms, many organisms become less complex - just look are parasitic species that lose the ability to perform certain functions as they rely on their hosts for these functions. So from this point of view evolution can 'reverse' itself. However with regards to humans becoming slower, fatter and thicker I suspect this is because of the environment we live in, more comfortable lifestyles, more food, less exercise etc.

Answer 3

It's quite possible that we are indeed becoming stupider and fatter as a species. After all, it tends to be the less-educated that have more children.

However, it's important to realise that this isn't "reverse" evolution - it's just normal evolution. Evolution doesn't have a direction, and it can quite happily go from complex to simpler.

For the past couple of million years, it's been advantageous for us to become more intelligent. If there ever comes a point where our intelligence is not required for survival, it will almost certainly disappear as our large brains are a big cost, in terms of the energy needed to sustain them and the difficulties it causes in childbirth. Once again, this will be perfectly normal evolution, not reverse.

Answer 4

there is not any such ingredient as reversing evolution. that is achievable that we ought to evolve to be much less clever or bodily in a position than previous human ancestors. regardless of the undeniable fact that it might all nevertheless be a forward step in evolution.

Answer 5

You need to watch the movie Idocracy-- it shows the human race 500 yrs from now and is a pretty funny movie, but it's scary to think we could be heading that way.

Overall, I don't think evolution is going backwards... I think if the human race can survive for thousands of more years-- you'll see a branching affect; inwhich, we have a highly intelligent species that doesn't reproduce as fast and then another species that has a greater number of individuals but is more animalistic. But this would take atleast another 2000-5000 years or more.

Answer 6

Actually we haven't been around for millions of years, and we haven't been getting smarter.
Adam was created highly intelligent and we have been devolving ever since. So in a way you're right, we are probably getting thicker - certainly our gene pool is deteriorating as mutations take their effect as the generations go by.

Answer 7

I don't think we are de-evolving as such, we just use the things we have evolved, because technology does so much for us. Give it a few million years and we will probably be pale little weakling with huge heads, communicating via telepathy and flying around in thought controlled bubbles. sounds rubbish to me.

Answer 8

This is not a question of evolution but the one of our habits.

Genetic evolution progresses through the selection of the best features which survive. There is no selection, based on our bad habits, which selects us and our children. We get children, no matter how we live, and they can survive better than we do.

Answer 9

i actually agree with you! has anyone else noticed that apart from our brains the rest of a human is rubbish? i mean, our eyes can't see far or in the dark, we can't smell or hear much and our legs don't exactly carry us anywhere fast! modern medicine is meaning that the bits that aren't our brain are getting worse

Answer 10

c now thts a trick question if u look at it, yes humans r not livin up to the expectations of others (scientist,critics,etc) but i look at it like an obstacle to over-come