How much further can humans evolve?

[Mafoobula]

I'm not sure straight-up evolution is going to happen too much, from here on out.
Our biggest advantage as humans is our ability to adapt and overcome whatever threats to our safety the universe can throw at us. It gets cold, we make clothes. It gets hot, we make air conditioning. It gets sandy, we put some of those clothes over our mouth and nose and put on goggles. Do we feel like making telekinesis happen? I'm sure some really smart people can make it happen with SCIENCE. Sun gettin' you down? Sunscreen, SPF a billion. Houses on Mars? I wouldn't be surprised if I saw it happen within my lifetime.
Evolution, shmevolution. We have SCIENCE.

 

[Tinybear]

The human race is devolving in the modern world, and evolving in developing countries. Take bad eyesight for instance. How many do you think has that problem in Africa? They have better disease immunity, some places even have a large part of the population with AIDS immunity.

Evolution happens because only those fit to live survive. In the western world, we keep everyone alive with technology. The natural system is overruled and unfit genes survive.
There is one "evolution" that the western world does have, and that is when the smart marry the smart, and get smart offspring. That is the only notable part of humanity that evolves on our part, the problem is that it's a select group, and might even end up making the differences huge in the future.

 

[Zipa]

We are still evolving, faster even than most species. We are becoming taller overall and our digits are lengthening overall. Go back to a old castle and look at the doorways they are almost all too low for a human adult male to walk through without stooping somewhat. Usually these kinds of changes take hundreds of thousands or millions of years.

I find it far more likely that people were shorter due to poor diet/lack of good nutrition for long stretches of the year, rather than we are actually getting much taller. Our pre-historic ancestors were actually taller than us if I'm not mistaken.

Genetically we might not change much any more

Removing ourselves from many of the usual evolutionary pressures which cause adaptation isn't going to stop genetic mutation. I won't claim to be an expert on evolution, but intuitively I would think the level of genetic diversity would increase over time through random mutation, rather than somehow decrease or stop completely. We'll end up with a lot mutations which will neither really benefit or detract from survival in the modern world and simply carry on where they may not have 100,000 years ago.

But there are still evolutionary pressures out there in terms of disease, natural disasters, etc. And pandemic's like the Spanish flu which kill in the millions have happened before, and could happen again, particularly in countries not equipped to deal with them.

It is true that the tallness evolution could be down to lack of nutrition rather than evolution. The other examples do hold up better though.

 

[Turigamot]

Life will evolve as long for as there are things we need to survive against.

 

[Dominic Burchnall]

The human race is devolving in the modern world, and evolving in developing countries. Take bad eyesight for instance. How many do you think has that problem in Africa? They have better disease immunity, some places even have a large part of the population with AIDS immunity.

Evolution happens because only those fit to live survive. In the western world, we keep everyone alive with technology. The natural system is overruled and unfit genes survive.
There is one "evolution" that the western world does have, and that is when the smart marry the smart, and get smart offspring. That is the only notable part of humanity that evolves on our part, the problem is that it's a select group, and might even end up making the differences huge in the future.

So, do you think that, from the economic divide between First and Third world areas, two separate sub-species of humanity might evlove? (P.S. I'm studying genetics, so I know that any organism will develop a divide between species if separated by say a geographical event, but could the same thing come about today, in an age of easy long-distance travel, and would it happen before technological advances could be shared that would allow developing countries to catch up to us?)

 

[Gluzzbung]

I hate it when scientists and others alike say thing like "humans can't evolve." They don't look at the bigger picture, humans have evolved from neanderthals (is that how you spell it?) over millions of years and the CAN evolve, just not while natural selection has gone out the window with handicapped people and those with less desirable natural traits can roam around breeding. Personally I'd like the old meat and two veg to be refined a bit more, it always looks a bit of an after thought.

We didn't evolve from neanderthals, they were a completely different species that died out though certain characteristics of the neanderthals did outlive the species due to in breeding with homo sapiens (us)

The point I'm trying to make is that we're expecting humans to evolve over a period of ten thousand years, being generous, but that is a tiny number in comparison to how many years it's take us to get to here and still pathetic when looking at a species that has evolved fast, like certain types of fish, their name escapes me right now.

 

[Zipa]

I hate it when scientists and others alike say thing like "humans can't evolve." They don't look at the bigger picture, humans have evolved from neanderthals (is that how you spell it?) over millions of years and the CAN evolve, just not while natural selection has gone out the window with handicapped people and those with less desirable natural traits can roam around breeding. Personally I'd like the old meat and two veg to be refined a bit more, it always looks a bit of an after thought.

We didn't evolve from neanderthals, they were a completely different species that died out though certain characteristics of the neanderthals did outlive the species due to in breeding with homo sapiens (us)

The point I'm trying to make is that we're expecting humans to evolve over a period of ten thousand years, being generous, but that is a tiny number in comparison to how many years it's take us to get to here and still pathetic when looking at a species that has evolved fast, like certain types of fish, their name escapes me right now.

Oh I know that, as a species humanity has evolved massively faster than other species where changes take millions of years.

 

[GrungyMunchy]

and i suppose eventually someone will be born without an appendix.

You do realise that the appendix actually has a function right?

 

[gellert1984]

Theres no such thing as evolution the world was created last wednesday!

Humans have.....evolved? Not from what I've just seen in the crowd lurking outside of McDonalds.

Well we don't have natural predators to cull the weak and misshapen anymore, so there are bound to be throwbacks and genetic failures.

I'm kinda curious as to whether we've adapted to our own technologies; for example, I wonder how much current a modern human can take without dying compared to a human from 2k years ago...

 

[The Reverend]

Humanity can only get so smart; Our brains are at a size where if they got any larger, it would be detrimental to our intelligence. They can however, become more "compact" if thats the word. I forget the scientific name, but Einstiens brain was "denser" than average, meaning more nuerons closer together allowing for faster proccessing and higher IQ.
I use the term IQ loosely though; the IQ scale of intelligence is an outdated system for measuring intelligence. An artistic genius may have an average IQ, but be able to produce fantastic works of art.
Back on topic, the only major evolutionary changes we'll be likely to see are in people who go on prolonged space travels. With our current tech humans who spent time in lower gravity would most likely develop weaker bone structures but longer limbs, and possibly dexterity in their feet.
I think inthe future we'll create our own evolution with technology, using artificial implants and genetic engineering.
..We'll be the borg!

 

[David Huff]

How is having blue eyes a genetic defect

 

[RADlTZ]

Just wait till our mad scientists break out the genetic-engeneering, we'll evolve plenty once that happens...

 

[No_Remainders]

and i suppose eventually someone will be born without an appendix.

You do realise that the appendix actually has a function right?

Actually there's no scientific evidence that it does. Everyone's still arguing that.

There are theories that it MIGHT have something to do with the immune system, but a lot of people think it's entirely useless.

OT: Technically there's no extent to how much any race can evolve.

 

[Fiad]

Well if technology continues to advance we may evolve with it, our bodies depending on them more and more each generation. Until eventually we would literally die without them. Though on a shorter term eventually we will most likely evolve into just one race, rather than many different races. With the ease of travel and not needing the specific racial attributes that people of different parts of the world evolved to have, we will all end up combining into one universal.

 

[Bigsmith]

The human race will keep on evolving until we all become sterile.

I totally agree with this. Although we my not evolve to point where are physical appearance changes, although as lot of people have mentioned the human race is getting taller, our immune systems are getting better and better at dealing with the also rapidly evolving bacterial and viruses.

As some one has already mentioned before me, people in Africa have started to build up some sort of immune system against aids, this is evolution. Two people who have survived aids because they have a superior immune system that can, in some way, deal with it have had a child that has inherited the parents genes that allowed them to be able to, in some way, become somewhat resistance to aids.

This is Evolution, as this is an example of natural selection. Those that have survived aids can "procreate" and have children, those that don't, well they die.

Also, again some one has mentioned above me, the human race (well.. some of it :/) is getting progressively smarter. This will then be reflected in improvements to science and technology, so, in a way, you can say that where as we won't change to the point where you can see it with the naked eye any time soon but you will see it in the advance in technology.

You can almost say technology is evolving.

 

[TheDist]

How is having blue eyes a genetic defect

Realisticaly it isn't, an argument could be made in terms of sexual selection that it could be an advantage or disadvantage, or a non factor. All on how you wanna define it, that is where the arguments come in evolution, the fact evolution happens isn't, it is all the little why's that are argued.

As I say, allelic frequency in a population over time.

The thing is the change doesn't need to be an advantage or disadvantage, there are many that do basicaly nothing.

 

[Hagi]

Evolution can't stop.

Just like gravity can't stop. As long as matter exists as it does now there will be gravity. As long as DNA exists as it does now there will be evolution. Gravity is something that happens with matter, evolution is something that happens with DNA.

If a region of space is somehow absent of matter (if that's at all possible I don't know) then there's no gravity there at that moment, but that doesn't mean that gravity has stopped.

If a species is somehow absent of evolutionary stimuli (if that's possible is debatable I'd say, there's always some stimuli) then there's no evolution there at that moment, but that doesn't mean evolution has stopped.

Evolution happens over millions of years. Just because in your part of the world you currently don't notice many evolutionary stimuli doesn't mean that evolution will somehow stop for humanity.

Circumstances will eventually change. And then DNA will do what DNA does, it will evolve.

At least that's my understanding of the matter, not an evolutionary (or gravitational) expert though.

 

[Zipa]

How is having blue eyes a genetic defect

Realisticaly it isn't, an argument could be made in terms of sexual selection that it could be an advantage or disadvantage, or a non factor. All on how you wanna define it, that is where the arguments come in evolution, the fact evolution happens isn't, it is all the little why's that are.

As I say, allelic frequency in a population over time.

The thing is the change doesn't need to be an advantage or disadvantage, there are many that do basicaly nothing.

defect is the wrong word really, its a genetic mutation, a accident if you will.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/3323607/Blue-eyes-result-of-ancient-genetic-mutation.html

 

[razor343]

We could always evolve into a higher state of being...I wouldn't mind becoming a floating glowing mass, speaking to people through telepathy.