Are humans still evolving? Yes we are!
What is evolution?
Evolution can be defined as:
a gradual process in which something changes into a different and usually more complex or better form Source
the process by which an organism becomes more sophisticated over time and in response to its environment Source
Taking those definitions as the base of our argument, we can say in order for evolution to work, there must be a factor of competition and survival so that in this way specimens (or patterns) survive, others die, and those that best adapt to the environment survive and multiply more than the others, making their genes more and more common.
This is exactly what happened with the first humans when they started to life in different environments. Many of those who went to live in cold places ended up perishing, but those who survived did so because they were smaller and obese people, which helped them keep warm, and pass their genes on to their descendants, who did the same.
Similarly, those who went to hot climates, had to adapt to that environment, so in those climates people who were not good at emitting as much heat as possible from their bodies ended up perishing, while people better adapted to these climates (tall and thin people) survived, had children and multiplied.
All of this is thanks to natural selection, defined as:
A process in nature in which organisms possessing certain genotypic characteristics that make them better adjusted to an environment tend to survive, reproduce, increase in number or frequency, and therefore, are able to transmit and perpetuate their essential genotypic qualities to succeeding generations Source
This is why, after so many centuries we have small and and thick people and animals in cold places, thin and tall people in African countries, and people with excellent lungs in places with little oxygen because of high altitudes.
Are we evolving?
I do not believe that the human being has simply stopped his evolution, but what has happened is that we are exhausting the means of biological evolution and we are entering a new type of technological evolution.
It is important to understand that right now we are very different in comparison with a person 1 century in the past. Because we are using technological innovations to improve ourselves, something our grandparents were not able to do so.
We need to realize the knowledge to which any human being today has access thanks to the Internet and tools such as Google or Wikipedia is exponentially larger compared to a human of even 10 years ago.
Today any 16-year-old can answer questions that 30 years ago could only answer few people in the world.
Many will say that "that does not count as Evolution", since a tool like Google is something "external" to the human body, but the truth is that this is not the case, since the human mind is also part of the human being, and is the human mind that we are amplifying with these new tools. Our minds are expanding like never before in history, at an accelerated rate.
Just a few people notice that these tools are already fusing with our bodies. Today there is already technology of all kinds to provide artificial prostheses (arms, legs, eyes, ears, parts of the brain) that will soon be perfected to such an extent that they will make our biological bodies look obsolete in the future. We are looking at a society with possible human beings able to live much more years than what is biologically possible, even immortality. I call that evolution.
So even if biologically we are not really evolving much, our technology innovations as they merge with our own bodies can count as a form of evolution, created by our own knowledge. With a totally different speed than regular biological evolution
Conclusion
Since we are improving our capabilities and making us stronger and more intelligent, and if evolution is nothing more than a process of making a being more sophisticated, then we can certainly say we are evolving faster than ever.
Is exciting to see where this new era will take us, we will probably be able to have lives difficult to imagine today.Things like super strength, improved sight, a faster mind, perfect health, even immortality. This will turns us into a totally new generation of humans, with repercussions never seen before, but always fun to speculate about.
Therefore, in this evolution subject, my answer is clear. We are evolving, and not only that. We are evolving more than ever before.
What do you think? Are we evolving? Can artificial improvements of ourselves be called evolution?
References
biology-online
allaboutscience
tel aviv university
Cultural myths and taboos of modern society: “We only use 15% of our brain’s potential”
My 1 month anniversary on steemit!! Reaching +300followers +300SP 🙏
"A day in the future": Nanobots taking care of our health
Wealth is about much more than just money
Importance of resilience to overcome traumas from the past
Your article isn't just interesting, but very good looking too! Professional!
Thank! I really put a lot of effort formatting my posts!
Interesting think to read drinking the coffee. Thanks for sharing.
Also, I think that we are still evolving not just because we can, but because we`re forced to. Looking around human species I found out that we not just harm the nature, but ourselves.
Thanks for those words :D.
Always. Have a great night.
This is a great well written post! Our technology is advancing at such a rapid pace, but I doubt most of us consider the physical effects on the human species. Are we even aware of the changes!
Imagine a world full of synthetic human beings with super strength and super intelligence. Image how things like sports or arts could be in the future...
As long as there is a vision or goal to become more super strong or more super intelligent, I think we'll be okay. Great stuff to think about!
That is a really interesting concept - I do agree with the thought that we are not evolving any more, in a biological sense. I think that stopped once we found the prevention to most of the common deadly illnesses. There was nothing to really naturally select against anymore. I think there is more technological natural selection taking place now - those who can understand and adapt to technology, and those who cannot. In the long run, it may look much like you describe. (A good sci-fi based on that is the Hyperion series, if you are interested in that sort of thing)
Hyperion serios? I haven’t check into those! But will surely do so. Thanks!
Have you watch some of black mirror episodes?
Yes - maybe three? I often find that real life presents enough of those types of situations so I don't need a show highlighting them - but I think I just had a very strong reaction to the first episode. I prefer to get my distopian/scifi through literature where I can emotionally brace myself a bit first. hahah Do you like them?
Yep I enjoy them very much. My favorite is San junipero. Excellent concept and the technology presented there is hopeful. Nice story too.
I'll be sure to check that one out then! Thanks for the recomendation
Thank you !!!
Nicely written post but to answer your questions I first have too nit-pick a few things. First of all your source allaboutscience.org, has several inaccuracies that I won’t get into but the two that matter are quoted in the beginning of your article. These are misstatements of Darwin’s theory that can lead to misunderstanding. The title of Darwin’s book “On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection” says it all. The key words here are “Natural Selection.”
What you are describing in your article is Un-Natural Selection because we are the ones deciding what traits should be selected. It’s more like breeding plants and animals for our purposes than a natural process. Therefore anything outside our genome like technology can only be considered an exogenous attribute not subject to natural selection. So no, artificial improvement of ourselves cannot be called evolution.
However we are most certainly still evolving simply by reproducing in an environment that has selection pressures, we just don’t notice it because the process is so slow.
Thanks for the article. Keep it up!
Thanks for your counter argument pal! I see you have a good point.
So, even if we are talking about artificial improvement you don’t consider them evolution? Those improvements are selected based on their utility to us.
What we select isn’t necessarily unnatural. I think if something, wether it is an organism or a software is improving then it is evolving and becoming something better.
I guess I’m making my distinction based on the definition of the process. Evolution is mindless, there is no intention behind what it does. We have minds with intentions, good or bad that determine our behavior. How do we really know what’s best for humanity and who chooses? Remember the hubris of eugenics as the Nazis tried to create a master race.
Nature doesn’t care because it has no moral compass as it does what it does. We do have morals that determine how we select for what we “think” is best. Are we really smart enough to know what’s best? Most of the evil in this world is done by people with good intentions.
very good.
I would have used the term 'genetic engineering' rather than 'evolution'..but in the end it's the same.
I love this! So many people don't understand how evolution is changing all the animal species and us.
this could be why many of us don't get wisdom teeth anymore.
Yeah! The wisdom teeth is an example of biological evolution in my opinion.
Human beings will continue to evolve as long as ghis platent exists
In the future we might just keep evolving in other planets too
Certainly we can say that we are evolving, although I do not believe that this is always a synonym for progress, sometimes, when we move away from nature as much as now, evolution makes us more dependent on artificial devices, today we are not stronger, nor do we have better vision, or better physical capabilities than in the past, today we have better tools and more advanced technology, which makes us dispense with our natural gifts.
The dodo is a sample of how an animal can evolve to lose its dowries and its physical capacities, becoming very dependent on the balance and stability of its environment for its subsistence. The dodo could not compete when animals more attached to nature and with greater ability to adapt, including humans, enter their habitat.
Evolution is not always a straight line upwards, there are also setbacks and falls, and moments where everything simply remains the same.
Biologically no we don’t. Synthetically yes we will.
But we hat the knowledge and the time too be stronger than ever before...