Modern life may be speeding up evolution

Their view contradicts the widespread 20th-century assumption that modern medical practice, antibiotics, better diet and other advances would protect people from the perils and stresses that drive evolutionary change. Why did they think it stopped in the first place? There's always room for improvement, no matter how well people eat or how much medicine we take. I'd think that the only way for any species to stop evolving would be to get completely wiped out.

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This article seems both factual and incredibly misleading. Yes, we still, and will continue to, evolve - however there is no indication that such evolution will result in either gross physical changes to our form or the inability to interbreed with some future human. Given that we are simply using technology to adapt against the stresses of our environment, it is possible that such evolution that takes place in humans will be the loss of specific immunities to be replaced by technological substitutes for the genetic resistances. There is little to no evidence, in my understanding, of any envir... [More]

There is little to no evidence, in my understanding, of any environmental pressure on us to change our physical form in any way - nor any pressure we put on ourselves through our technological adaption of the environment. Without this pressure there is no stimulus for any drift to a different form to take place. Actually, there is one environmental pressure that humans have never experienced before, and which we are subjected to almost 24 hours a day. We currently live within electrical fields, and are exposed to various electrical and electronic devices. This environment hasn't really been ar... [More]

Actually, there is one environmental pressure that humans have never experienced before, and which we are subjected to almost 24 hours a day. We currently live within electrical fields, and are exposed to various electrical and electronic devices. This environment hasn't really been around long enough for us to study its effects, however I would not be at all surprised to find that it does indeed have some consequences. I was actually talking about this with a friend yesterday. I was wondering if the increase in ADD (of which I was diagnosed with a few years ago), could be a result of the cont... [More]

Naw, I don't buy it, not at all. If anything, the modern world, in eliminating or overcoming barriers that in the past contributed to evolution, has brought evolution to a stand-still. One might even argue that, through democratic leveling, we're devolving as a species. We probably have the same percentages of geniuses, intelligent people, average people, and stupid people now as there were in past ages; but there are so many more people now living at one time, the gross numbers obscure that fact. Average people and stupid people still predominate in the population--only more so.

There have been fields of magnetic force (equivalent to electrical fields) around on Earth since near the beginning of the formation of the planet without which we (and life) would probably not be here. There are also many other forms of natural energy fields - such as ultra-low frequency sonic fields caused by seismic activity - that have been relatively omni-present (albeit, in localised effect) during our tenure on the planet. Saying that, I find the subject of the artificially generated fields an interesting talking point. I know there have been studies which show both for and against thei... [More]

On this part - - - "We're not finished yet. Even today, scientists say that human beings are continuing to evolve as our genes respond to rapid changes in the world around us. In fact, the pressures of modern life may be speeding up the pace of human evolution, some anthropologists think." - - - I can't help but think of all agendas/schedules/deadlines that 'must' be met, chemicals/drugs (elicit etc), GM foods (err McDonald's ) etc, consumed by modern man today as opposed to, say 100 -150 years ago (eg) Not to forget the all important mainstream media pumping out that pounding pulverizing brai... [More]

You've got to be joking right? You can say a lot of things about modern humans but we're definitely not devolving. Intellectual and technological progress in the last hunded of years has made giant leaps compared to the previous two thousand years. Physically we're living longer and, compared to our ancestors, have more recreational activities that help relieve the mind, at least momentarily, from all our troubles in life. Studies show that improved nutrition, which is happening in most parts of the world and to a large number of humans, helps stimulate brain development which in turn helps in... [More]

No offense meant here BlackRedLittleDevil, but you seem to misunderstand biological evolution, which is not cultural (including our technology and lifestyle choices) evolution. We live longer because of improved culture. You are correct on devolving though, such a thing is not possible because evolution is directionless. There is no forward or backward. No problem mate, its a forum and everyone has a right to their opinion. I thought my post included both biological and intellectual/cultural evolution but I see your point. I'm not an expert on evolution so am expressing my opinions on pure log... [More]