• Question: do you think humans will evolve more?

    Asked by emilyjane to Marianne, Andrew, Emma on 14 Jun 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Andrew Maynard

      Andrew Maynard answered on 14 Jun 2010:

      Hi emilyjane,

      Tricky one. The easy answer is of course, because evolution is a process that never stops. But where this will lead with humans isn’t so clear – maybe we’ll become extinct. Maybe we’ll evolve into something that isn’t so “smart” (what if brains aren’t an evolutionary advantage in the future?). Just maybe, we’ll be clever enough to take over from evolution and start to intelligently alter ourselves. But that’s a long shot!

    • Photo: anon

      anon answered on 14 Jun 2010:

      Hi Emilyjane, Do you think humans will evolve more and if so what adaptations do you think would be most useful?

      I think it might be naive to suggest that our technological/scientific advances mean that we don’t need to adapt anymore as we are adapting our environment to suit us.

      I guess this might come into play if some cataclysmic/semi-cataclysmic event takes place. Basically if our environment starts fighting back we might not be able to prevent it driving our development in a particular direction.

    • Photo: Marianne Baker

      Marianne Baker answered on 14 Jun 2010:

      Hey emilyjane,

      Now it’s been a while since I’ve been deep into evolutionary biology but I do still love the subject so I’ll give this my best shot!

      There are different schools of thought that say we have or haven’t stopped evolving.

      I think the traditional ‘natural selection’ that applies to many species doesn’t apply to us so much any more – we’ve developed a lot of technology to overcome many of the problems that arise from our genes and environment; but we haven’t conquered them all (cancer research still exists, for example! Though I’d rather it didn’t – when people say “oh you don’t want the cures to be found out because then you wouldn’t have a job” I really hate that – of *course* I would rather find a different job than people continuing to die of cancer… what a horrible thing to say! Anyway, sorry to go on a tangent…).

      So yes, we are still evolving, I think.
      As long as there are people having children, genes are being passed on, changes are happening (albeit slowly – but then evolution is always slow!).

      If you mean will we randomly become mutants like in X-men then no, I can’t see that happening!

      It’s a complicated subject and I’m not sure the evolutionary biologists themselves agree yet (though they might be horrified by my stupid answers). I do think it’s dangerous to think of human beings, as we are, as ‘the pinnacle of evolution’ – that’s not true, and it breeds a kind of superiority complex, that we’re somehow more important than everything else on the planet, and I’ve never ascribed to that view.

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