Thread: Evolution in 100 years?

Originally Posted by bluefinger

Actually, Natural Selection favoured a larger brain with humans, and thus we evolved to have our mental capacity.

yes, that is what I said. thats why natural selection is no longer the process evolving us TODAY. because natural selection ALREADY gave us the ultimate tool

Originally Posted by juroara

yes, that is what I said. thats why natural selection is no longer the process evolving us TODAY. because natural selection ALREADY gave us the ultimate tool

No, other processes such as Sexual Selection still occurs to this day. It's not really an ultimate tool considering we are pretty prone to disease, and all sorts of problems. Hell, we haven't adapted fully for walking upright yet (as we still suffer from back problems, etc).

Evolution occurs all the time, and doesn't stop just because a species gains a new and unique trait. This includes humans.

Originally Posted by bluefinger

As for lions. No... they still remember that we are tasty, soft-skinned snacks. We may not be on their usual menu, but if they are hungry and see one of us in the vicinity.... lion goes "OM NOM NOM NOM NOM...".

I'm not saying a lion isn't dangerous. If you are alone in the wild, you're anyones game!

But how often do lions run into a city area and eat people? How often do wolves? Or bears? There are many cities and towns that border the wild, but we don't go to sleep at night afraid anymore. Even most native cultures that I know of can get some rest as well.

Once upon a time, those very same mammals attacked us in our sleep. Bears, wolves, lions, and such, they were all monsters and we were their prey. Things are so different now, most predators have shown a fear of humans. Especially at the sound of a gun.

Originally Posted by bluefinger

Evolution occurs all the time, and doesn't stop just because a species gains a new and unique trait. This includes humans.

I dont believe evolution has stopped

I believe it has a taken a very unique process that is very different than natural selection in humanity. that is all.

Originally Posted by juroara

I dont believe evolution has stopped

I believe it has a taken a very unique process that is very different than natural selection in humanity. that is all.

Natural Selection is still occurring, and all the other processes involved with Evolution. Best to look up Punctuated Equilibrium...

Originally Posted by bluefinger

Natural Selection is still occurring, and all the other processes involved with Evolution. Best to look up Punctuated Equilibrium...

you're going to have to do more to convince me than that

natural selection has always been about WHO DIES, WHO LIVES

"Natural selection acts on the phenotype, or the observable characteristics of an organism, such that individuals with favorable phenotypes are more likely to survive"

remember we are talking about the future of human evolution. not the past. how is natural selection going to continue to evolve us when natural selection is about what genes get to be carried on?

either: people die - or they don't have sex

do ugly people still have kids? yes. do pretty people still die pathetic deaths? yes. is sexual selection producing any super races...NO. even a beautiful model is grotesquely hideous if she is 400 pounds overweight, a drunken slob who doesn't shower. believe it or not, but sexual attraction has a lot more to do with personality - hygiene - and overall health than any specific 'pretty' gene. even a person with relatively ugly features, is pretty attractive if they are healthy!! all of those three traits, are not fixed, but can change in a persons life time.

today evolution is not about, whether or not you die. today evolution is not about whether or not you survive the wild. no. its about surviving the modern life. who survives modern life. the thing is, we are deciding this in our own right. because we created the modern world, we created its difficulties, and were the ones deciding what traits in a human are desirable, and what traits aren't.

it has very little to do with your genes as well. even a number of children born with handicaps are born with handicaps because of something gone wrong during the development in the wound, and not because of their DNA.

as the modern world becomes more challenging, we will slowly weed out those who aren't fit enough for its jungle. but even then, this doesn't necessarily weed out their genes - the losers still might have kids.

the picture isn't black and white. its not dualistic. whether or not you survive the modern world, comes down to your individuality. this individuality is not fixed, all individuals can change and enrich themselves as they grow up.

were not like animals, who are trapped. who can't change. who can't adjust. who can't learn. thus needing a mutant gene to change them.

our genes, have already enabled us to be ability to GROW, and CHANGE. this has created a mental evolutionary process. if you look at mankind as a whole, as a single organism, it makes more sense why and how our minds evolve us. look at the ancient tribes that haven't changed. why haven't they changed? is it maybe because - they have learned nothing new?

natural selection is not the only force behind evolution.

Originally Posted by juroara

natural selection is not the only force behind evolution.

It isn't, it is one of many, which was why I included sexual selection, but also you have Gene drift and Gene flow.

Also, Natural Selection still occurs, and whilst it may not have as drastic effects, when diseases are involved, then it can be very drastic indeed. For example, when the first Europeans discovered the Americas, all the diseases that the Europeans brought over decimated the natives. Why? Because the natives were not exposed to such diseases before and thus had no natural immunity or resistance to those diseases. Afterwards, only those with enough resistance to the diseases survived, and thus developed the necessary immunities. These people went on to repopulate and consequently spread the genes which promoted the resistance against such diseases.

It is still occurring, though the shift is slower and advances differently due to the way the population interacts and is able to move about. We are no longer isolated in communities, we have medicines, but even then, this increases the amount of Gene flow within the population. Variation is maintained, but if a new disease were to arise, it would be decimating the populace until a new medicine were to arrive or until we begin to develop a resistance to it. This is the case with HIV and various other diseases.

All in all, Evolution is still at work.

So evolution is all mutated babies and aids. Sounds pretty evil to me, we should put a stop to it! Never mind the war on Terror, we need a war on Evolution.

Originally Posted by juroara

were not like animals, who are trapped. who can't change. who can't adjust. who can't learn. thus needing a mutant gene to change them.

Who says animals can't learn. Ever heard of Pavlov's bell?

What the fuck on a stick?

Juroara, consider this....

A human is born with a mutation that forms a clump of cells which contain a dense substance and lie close to a nerve. Now, when something such as an X-ray passes through that clump of cells, it reacts and sends a signal up the nerve to the brain. Voila, that person can now detect x-rays.

Yes, thats a corny example but I just made up something off the top of my head. XD But an evolution such as that is entirely possible and another sense is a competitive advantage, yes? You might do the predictable thing and whine about the fact that everyone on the planet except him isn't gonna die off in modern society but consider this: he now has his work cut out for him. He can do something that nobody else can and this ensures him and the people who inherit his genes an income. No, it probably won't be in a hurry to spread far and wide... punctuated equilibrium and all that fun stuff... but damn.... you're gonna have some people who eveolved to be able to detect x-rays walking around.

PS- don't try and refute by giving resons that only pertain to that example.... just no....

@ seis, I suck at wording, okay? XD

Originally Posted by The Cusp

So evolution is all mutated babies and aids. Sounds pretty evil to me, we should put a stop to it! Never mind the war on Terror, we need a war on Evolution.
Who says animals can't learn. Ever heard of Pavlov's bell?

What.... the... fuck?

Please be troll...

Originally Posted by arby

Hey DV, I was just thinking... if our population is so much larger then it ever was in the past... couldn't evolution happen in a much shorter time frame?

Here are some number for you to consider:

homo habilis (ape people, for those of you who don't recognize the name) existed 2,000,000 years ago.

Their population was somewhere in the range of 100,000 to 1,000,000.

Today we have a population of about 6,600,000,000

Today about 2,000,000,000 people live in conditions where natural selection would still be prominent.

Doing quick math, that means there are 20,000-2,000 times as many people undergoing natural selection now then back then.

If we divide 2,000,000 (length of time to go from homo habilis ---> homo sapien) by the difference in population we get 100-1000 years.

Thus, just as we went from homo habilis --> homo sapien in 2 million years, we might be able to evolve from homo sapien --> (largely different species) in 100-1000 years provided we keep this sudden explosion of population...

Discuss.

I've already evolved, you schmucks.

Originally Posted by Minervas Phoenix

You stunned him. Now he's in troll mode. Quick hit him it again with it.

I cast Acid Missile!

Rolled a twenty!

Pwnage.

Originally Posted by bluefinger

Originally Posted by thecusp

So evolution is all mutated babies and aids. Sounds pretty evil to me, we should put a stop to it! Never mind the war on Terror, we need a war on Evolution.
Who says animals can't learn. Ever heard of Pavlov's bell?

What.... the... fuck?
Please be troll...

You stunned him. Now he's in troll mode. Quick hit him it again with it.

Originally Posted by Seismosaur

What the fuck on a stick?

Another one down. Two in one go. Get out the lizard eating experiment where the dna changes before he mentions Darwinism again.

Originally Posted by bluefinger

I cast Acid Missile!

Rolled a twenty!

Pwnage.

You cast nonsense of mass destruction.
Rolled a Universal mind. Darwinism fails step back 3 places.

Originally Posted by Minervas Phoenix

You cast nonsense of mass destruction.
Rolled a Universal mind. Darwinism fails step back 3 places.

Another troll approaches...

DUM DUM DUMMMM

We already said you were in troll mode. DUM DUM DUMMM

Apparently, my geek humour has failed...

No it was my geek humor that failed.

Originally Posted by Minervas Phoenix

No it was my geek humor that failed.

Maybe... just maybe... we both failed. D:

Indeed we did.

I'm hoping that we will merge ourselves with computer technology and become omnipotent digital beings.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technological_singularity