An example of transcending is going from cavemen who say "Uhg" and stuff to a complex race like we are now. We are transcending everyday we become something that exceeds what we were... greater, more intellectual, etc.

Can this, in any way, be related to a type of "evolution"?

Of course! Over millions of years, our brain became bigger. Consequently we can learn more things. But big brain without learning doesn't give much intellectual capacities, like children raised by wolves. Those children behave exactly like wolves.

I find what you are talking about to be covered by the word evolution not transending. I find transending to be more used for describing the transition to another form of life, maybe going to heaven or becoming a spirit.
Not that i believe in that.

I agree that transcending would imply something more than simply going beyond your expectations. Even in a purely physical sense, it would only be used to describe an event previously deemed impossible (such as the three minute mile), rather than simply an athlete progressing above the training he previously had.

The dictionary defenition of Transcend is:

1. To pass beyond the limits of: emotions that transcend understanding.

2. To be greater than, as in intensity or power; surpass: love that transcends infatuation. See Synonyms at excel.

3.To exist above and independent of (material experience or the universe): “One never can see the thing in itself, because the mind does not transcend phenomena” (Hilaire Belloc).

Whereas evolve is:


1. a: To develop or achieve gradually: evolve a style of one's own.
b: To work (something) out; devise: “the schemes he evolved to line his purse” (S.J. Perelman).

Biology. a: To develop (a characteristic) by evolutionary processes.
b: To give off; emit.

v. intr.
To undergo gradual change; develop: an amateur acting group that evolved into a theatrical company.
Biology. To develop or arise through evolutionary processes.

Good. So no one thinks they are the same... that's good. Hm... There are many ways that things can change over time... know'd be cool is if mutation like in X-men started happening. HA ha.

X-Men.. now that's an interesting point.

Would gaining powers be transending, or evolving?

Well....It couldn't be regarded as evolution, because the mutations are not going to be expressed in the majority of the species through natural selection....they're more like random mutations that will die with the mutant than any major step forward.

In order for a characteristic to fall into the concept of evolution, it would need to be expressed over a period of time. Of course, this is all hypothetical anyway, but I don't see the X-Men contributing in any way to even cause the slightest ripple in the human gene pool.