This is an interesting question, with our growing technological achievements will evolution end without the need to change our body?(natural and non man made evolution and genetic-modifications excluded)

Think about it for a second if you will, if for some reason there is a large flood, say like the water world movie but with dotted islands and land mass and such, would we evolve to have gills or would that not be needed with the advent of scuba gear, meaning the evolution does not take place. I lean toward the second proposal.

What are you thoughts, will out science enc evolution (natural).

wouldn't we have to evolve is some way to adjust to the change in our enviroment.And it would not just be the human race that would have to evolve to adjust either,many species would become extinct(like evolution has already proven)because of their inability to evolve and the food chain effect.This is definately an interesting question!

I say evolution will take its natural course. Unless we do something do change our environment or our internal body, then we will evolve as nature planned. I say this because there is no evidence for technology changing evolution. For example, we have been around fire for a very long time now, and yet we have not evolved to be immune to burning.

maybe we'll evolve WITH the technology... becoming something like Borg...

But it could be argued that we have evolved or at least been selectively bred to better use food that is cooked rather than raw, and in the process, we are now much more susceptible to problems associated with raw and undercooked food.

I believe we will overcome all evolutionary processes, this would become a strange time of designer people, and perhaps a scare or two with engineering ourselves to possibly dangerous/erroneous ways. After all its going to be a lot of testing before we figure out all the combinations in which we could recreate ourselves. We might even create drones (people made just for mindless work) while mainstream humans evolve into artworks of beauty... yep could be a very weird time.

its an interesting idea but personally i believe that technology wont stop us evolving but rather will change the path of our evolution away from nature and more towards what our technological progression requires, lol or maybe not. i dont know lol.

Nothing can stop evolution per se. Only the pressures and selectors, whether they be man-made or natural (really everything's "natural"), really change what genes will be passed on. There's nothing humans can do to stop the many mechanisms involved in evolution (well, except to stop breeding I guess). Remember evolution doesn't go in a direction or have a goal.

No not really. Evolution is just one "weirdo" doing something then he gets more to follow and if they end up stronger for it they've evolved if they end up weaker they will most ikely get bumped of and then over time our bodies naturally change through genetic mutations in our ancestors gene's. The physical aspect (mutations) of it will keep going as it is unhelpable (other than genetic engineering) (we see these mutations every day synesthesia (okay well thats not every day) and even downs syndrome) and survival of the fitest is a universal fact pretty much, if one thing is stronger than another or smarter than another he will most likely survive. The better evolution will always or at least a large percent of the time make it further.

impuritees like diabetes and heart disease would survive natural selection

but autism[to a pt] and phisical frailties/deformaties can only survive now because tech has removed the judgment factors of nature.

these factors being
predators
food gathering
disease resistance
probability of procreating

Technology won't necessarily halt it, but definitely hinder it. Think about it, do you think there would be such a high percentage of genetic diseases if our current technology wasn't around to keep the people suffering from them alive? But then there are advances in evolution that are hindered due to our culture. For example, we'll look at Lance Armstrong. He has double the lung capacity than a normal human, but the gene for the lung capacity is not spread very fast since we now believe in love, marriage, etc. Had such a mutation occurred long ago, he would have passed the gene on to many children, and through the course many years, most people would have a such a big lung capacity.

Who's to say evolution doesn't accept technology. Maybe our evolution is the combination of technology with our own bodies ?

Our bodies are a composition of matter, as well as technology. The only difference is we put a "face" to technology as some other existing form, and we are unique and individual. But we are just a huge mass born from the universe just as technology is.

Robots are becoming more Human and Humans are becoming more Robot.

but if we change things with tech, and we can solve probs with intelligence then wont evolution not happen?... because evolution is a last option to an animal (aka evolve or die).

i didnt expect my children [machines] to be brought into it.

even if we make them a soul they wont be human they'll be a new species.

and i still agree genetic diseases would die off if carriers werent kept alive artificially long enough to breed. if they survive long enough to have and raise kids they deserve a place in the genepool for there adversaty.

but the real question is not about tech but
ethics vs evolution when are we helping or destroying ourselves.

this brings up questions like where to apply tech.

Don't you think that technology is a by product of evolution? To be honest I simply think that human beings have become evolution itself, we're busily evolving new and more efficient ways for things to be done/convience/etc. Gradually humans will become physically weaker in almost every aspect because there is no process of elimination or anything similiar. We are on a J curve... What happens to every J curve? IT CRASHES.. yay.. I think we are going to run into some serious problems sometime down the track.

i just asked is technology going to hault natural evolution...

um sorry i say it has already.

"This is an interesting question, with our growing technological achievements will evolution end without the need to change our body?(natural and non man made evolution and genetic-modifications excluded)
Think about it for a second if you will, if for some reason there is a large flood, say like the water world movie but with dotted islands and land mass and such, would we evolve to have gills or would that not be needed with the advent of scuba gear, meaning the evolution does not take place. I lean toward the second proposal.
What are you thoughts, will out science enc evolution (natural)."


First of all, evolution always takes place. It is a matter of selective pressure. If we keep the scuba gear close to us, then there is no natural seclective pressure on us to evolve gills. We do not need gills, because nature senses we can do fine without them. How, nature does not care about.
Also, there is also the question: Is this possible? Or in more understandable terms: Is the adaptation compatible with what we currently are?

Good question. As others have said, evolution happens anyway, its simply that we are creating our own environment in which to evolve. I'm presuming here you are talking solely of human evolution and not evolution in general.

As for the different scenarios, we'd have to look at what technology was possible first before determining if that could affect selectorial pressure. In your example of the flood and scuba-gear. How would the scuba gear be manufactured if all the mines were flooded and we had no metals? All factories are inaccessible and cannot produce plastics?

It's likely (in fact almost certain) that such a world-changing event would stimulate evolution by increasing selectorial pressure.

Evolution cannot be stop it is entangled to time. The evolution for human is their evolution of mind... our mind evolve through time, our technology is just a byproduct of that evolution.... technology might hinder our physical, health evolution but our mind through its knowledge in technology will help us to leap the evolution forward ...perhaps by customizing ourself on the way we want..... there's a lot of things going on in the science lab all over the world ..... we will be in our way to our Artificial Evolution.....

Who is helped by technology? Those wealthy enough to have it. In the case of a severe change in environment, will the rich sustain through tech use? What about the poor? After many perish, will they evolve to deal with the new environment, forming two species of human? Classic catastrophe scenario... will those reliant on tech end up not evolving, to their own detriment?

Wasn't there some study released recently that said humans were becoming more genetically divergent?

By having more people living longer it actually speeds up evolution.

Technology has the ability to diverge the evolutionary process into directions it may not have taken without technology. Think about the amazingly higher percentage of radiation the average person is exposed to every day just because of technology. Think about how many more toxins enter your system just because of technology.

We are inescapably connected with our environments and as we alter our environments through technology we are inescapably altering ourselves as well.

Yes actually there was. It was about how Humans may be splitting into two subspecies. One who evolves from the working class of poor people. They are not as educated, not as healthy, not as happy. The other evolves from the upper class of wealthy people who are generally more educated, more healthy and more happy. The theory is that one sub-species will be left to work and support the other subspecies who would be dominant because of their better looks, higher intelligence and greater capacity for positive thinking.

Its kind of like what the Nazis wanted to achieve through genocide, the rest of the (capitalist) world is achieving through the exploitation of workers.

From the looks of it in today's terms, evolution seems to be in the control of business and money. But slowly things are starting to change, for the better it seems

technology cannot stop evolution. evolution is a beneficial mutation so unless technology can stop every type of DNA damage then technology cannot stop evolution

okay, evolution is a genetic mutation that helps, but say, a doctor sees a fetus with a bones tail, he has a large head, fearing the worst, and that it may in fast be a dominate gene, they change the baby, then a possible step in evolution is not taken...

well he could do that though mutations are usually more subtle than that, like humans mutating the inability to produce vitamin C.

In this thread: People who don't understand how evolution works.

Well...... lets hear u'r thought genius ..

I was pleasantly surprised to find this question posted. I have a particular opinion about this. And while I have shared it with others, I have never really discussed it in depth.

As I see it, evolution allows a species to adapt to its environment. An environment’s requirements push evolution.* Beings are required to evolve in order to survive** within a given environment. However, once mankind began to adapt the environments to suit our requirements, we stopped evolving. That being said, I would imagine that there could be slight evolutionary changes to humans. Perhaps something as tiny as resistance to pollutants (in air, water, or jell-o). Of course, if our kids continue to wash their hands with antibacterial soap, and we also keep cleaning everything in our homes also with antibacterial soap…Then you’ll really see something!! I heard the same thing happened on Mars. How do you think the common cold killed the Martians so easily? …They used that darn antibacterial soap, that’s how!

*Environment in the broadest sense: such as constant rain to desert drought, from a solitary beast at the top of the food chain to huddling together as you hide from a predator.
**As I understand it, the ultimate purpose of each evolutionary change (no matter how small) is survival.

We may be stepping off the topic and getting into metaphysics when talking about the evolution of the mind. That we are discussing the “mind” might be reason enough for some. It certainly doesn’t seem to be a physical change you’re speaking of. And from where I sit (over here on the couch) I see no great shift in mankind’s mental landscape – acuity, wisdom, intelligence or otherwise. And while a handful of individuals may reach a certain height,* these abilities (because I can’t bring myself to call them traits) would have to be passed on to their offspring for this to be an evolution issue, right? I may be mistaken, but I believe that detail alone would prevent it from being considered an evolutionary step. You can’t learn to be more evolved than another. Although I have worked for many a pretentious boob that might say otherwise.

Also, one could look at this evolution of the mind as a mental superiority issue. Turning into a class system with the more intelligent as the ruling class. Now we’re talking socio-political goo. Anywizzle, I would be willing to bet my pants there will never be a day when people are simply born intelligent (or whatever the evolutionary equivalent would be...the smarty pants gene which provides for the potential? ). I’ll even eat said pants (of which I previously made my wager) if there ever comes a time when all mankind has come to understand the end of 2001: A Space Odyssey.

* which, I must say is virtually impossible to measure equally among them

Im not sure if it is an example of evolution, and it is perhaps happening too quickly for classic evolutionary process, but technology is indisputably having an effect on the statistical characteristics of the human race. The so called epidemic of obesity" in western society, has radically altered the parameters of the human body regarding weight (especially in young people.) The reasons for this are almost completely accepted to be technological.
Medically, and statistically, this will have an effect on a variety of health issues, which may well relate to permanent changes in the nature of humanity.