if evolution were true?

Question

why did we stop evolving?

PEOPLe how long have humans been around? A LONG time..we've stopped evolving...Dont call ME stupid...If you think Im stupid what are you for waisting your time on me?

PEOPLe how long have humans been around? A LONG time..we've stopped evolving...Dont call ME stupid...If you think Im stupid what are you for waisting your time on me?

Answer 1

I couldn't have said it any better. Well said !

Answer 2

We have removed ourselves from most of the pressure of natural selection by doing our best to make sure that everyone lives, despite handicap, deformity, or defect. Also, contraception works opposite of natural selection by limitting the offspring of those with the common sense and self control to use it, while the impulsive and ignorant kick out whelps like a clown car. However, these are all fairly new developments, and we've yet to know what the full effects will be.

None of this halts evolution though. We are still very much subject to sexual selection and random drift. We continue to get taller and more hairless, and the average age of menarche continues to plummet.

Lil Momma, our rate of base pair mutation is still 50-100 codons per generation, and that has been measured by sequencing. That is also the rate needed to separate humans and chimps in 3-4 million years. That is not a coincidence, and it is also direct proof that we continue to evolve. Chimpanzees are evolving at the same rate and in a different direction.

Answer 3

Wow lol... what makes you think we are no longer evolving? :) Because you can't "see" it happening? We are always evolving.

Ok.. this is evolution basics here. Evolution is an excruciatingly slow process, especially for highly complex beings such as humans, and other mammals. You are not going to see it happening right before your eyes. It is not something spectacular like sprouting fins and gills, but genetic mutations and adaptations. Consider that native Africans moving to Europe and North America are more susceptible to rickets. Why? Because their darker skin has evolved to handle the intense level of sun on the African plains. When they move to Europe, which has remarkably less sunlight, they can suffer from vitamin D deficiency which can lead to rickets. That their skin has adapted to their native land (where I would surely roast) is evidence of evolution. I can guarantee that after many generations, a family of African decent living in a less sunny environment will adapt. Their skin will become lighter toned, for example. But it takes time. This is not magic we are talking about here...

Look up malaria and sickle cell anemia. This is evolution at work http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/01/2/l_012_02.html

Or human immunities to HIV... http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/10/4/l_104_06.html

And any other number of genetic mutations; these are all proof positive of human evolution. We most certainly did NOT stop evolving!

Answer 4

I have read quite a lot of the answers and they all seem to indicate that because it is a very slow process, it's not noticeable; that we are still evolving. It would require at least 100,000 years to show major changes. They are questioning your premise.

Maybe, you should have asked about LIVING fossils: currently living creatures that scientist have said became extinct and from which other creatures evolved. One example is the coelacanth (a type of fish) that fishermen caught in 1938. It is so ancient that scientist considered its fossil a candidate for the first fish that supposedly crawled on to the land. So, why did it stop evolving? You understand, this is just ONE example of living fossils. For more, do a search on "living fossils"

Answer 5

Why do you think we've stopped? The process is slow, but in the last few centuries our average height has increased. This is probably partly due to better nutrition, but it may be also due to evolution, as people do tend to be biased to selecting taller mates.

It's a common misconception that evolution should result in dramatic changes from one generation to the next. No serious evolutionary biologist thinks this.

Another thing to consider is that the rate of evolution will be highest when a population is struggling to survive due to some environmental condition. Humans have it really easy now since we've master our environment. But something like global warming may put evolutionary pressure back on us. If this happened, perhaps in 10 or 20 generations there would some noticeable shift. Note I am saying generations, not years. 20 generations would be at least 400 years.

Answer 6

Id like to think that we are still evolving, the only problem i see is that mankind and its meddlesome ways are controlling evolution, and in ways trying their very best to stop it, through vaccines and attempts to wipe disease from the planet you are taking natural selection right out of the equation, the stong dont survive, those wealthy enough survive.
But no I dont feel we are evolving as a planet by the extinction of thousands of species and the polution of the entire planet , we are disrubting everything the planet took 5 million years to "evolve" to, and we are doing it in a fraction of the time. Seems more selfdestructive to me than evolving

Answer 7

Not only have we not stopped evolving, biologists have started a project of tracking changes by taking blood samples all around the world from different age groups and tracking gene mutations as they have and are moving in populations around the world. Not only have we not stopped evolving, we are now watching the evolution process occur throughout the world. We are now monitoring our evolution.

Answer 8

Okay. i'll try not to smile at this one. Unlike most animals, humans have a brain that can preform amazing things. Such as createing culture, writing, tameing fire etc. As soon as humans evolved from neanderthals (spellling ?) and created the first semi permanent settlements that housed more than a single tribe, we began to screw with evolution.

Culture has an influnce on evolution, as does climate, and prevalent food supplies. However, as our technology increased we began to enable our genitic defects to survive. They bred, and weakened humanity. Evolution is still occuring it is however just a very mutated proccess due to mans direct involvement. It becomes very hard to determin where mankind is heading towards as for every step forward in one man, another takes a genitic leap backwards.

Answer 9

I don't think the human race has stopped evolving. If that were the case, I think something else would happen - but since I'm not the scientific or biological type, I wouldn't know what that would be.

also - If evolution were true, then I want science to explain where these cosmic particles that caused the Big Bang came from. I personally think that God was the cause of the Big Bang, and then he just let nature take its' course - so I believe that God got it all started, and then evolution took over. Wouldn't it be a kick if I was right? :-)

Answer 10

I don't know that we did evolve
I don't know that we will stop evolving if we did .
I don't know that the human species will last long enough to find out !
You are not stupid ! this is a question that many ,many people have and always will wonder about.
In all probability we have been evolving all along---somewhere along the line our Creator God breathed into us His/Her likeness and made us HUMAN . Anyway that is the explanation I live with .

Answer 11

Who said we did?

Individual beings do not evolve. That's the stuff of comic books.

The species as a whole evolves. Depending on the environment, certain genetic traits may be more favorable than others. These genetic traits would give an individual a higher likelihood of surviving (and passing his genes onto offspring.) On the other hand, some genetic traits may not be useful in a given environment. These traits would make it less likely for an individual to survive, and pass these traits onto offspring. Over time, this can gradually affect the development of the species.

Diseases can amplify this effect - a disease can wipe out people with particular genetic markers in a very short period of time. (This has happened more than once - the Black Death in Europe being the most extreme example.)