tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15005476.post6571084953573947806..comments2023-10-10T08:02:18.073-04:00Comments on Rationally Speaking: Is human evolution over? Nah.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15005476.post-50736453794779486992008-10-20T13:33:00.000-04:002008-10-20T13:33:00.000-04:00Zarek,yes, what you say is correct, which means th...Zarek,<BR/><BR/>yes, what you say is correct, which means that human technology has been altering selective pressures, in some cases dramatically reducing them. What this means is that we are gradually taking control of our own evolutionary path. This still does not imply, as Jones maintains, that human evolution has stopped.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09099460671669064269noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15005476.post-10698549305318098402008-10-20T13:28:00.001-04:002008-10-20T13:28:00.001-04:00Dear Dr Pigliucci, I was upset at having missed yo...Dear Dr Pigliucci, I was upset at having missed your post as it came out 5 days ago (my fault). A few months ago I started a thread in the SGU forum (and did not follow up in my blog for lack of knowledge, I am not a biologist) about how natural selection has been stopped by the human race. I don't think we are done evolving, just that we are cheating the natural mechanisms that ensure survival of the fittest. Not to pin the blame on anyone else, I should not be alive anymore - I had apendicites at 17 and had my appendix removed. Had I been living in a pre-industrial society I would have probably died and my children would not have been born, which would have effectively eliminated my genes from the pool, if not my father's. And then, look at how many births are now caesarean sections, how many of those children and mothers would have died if not for the surgical procedure?<BR/>The point is that many people living and reproducing today are doing so because we have ensured not only the fittest survive but also many others who were not "so fit". My question is, what is this all leading to?Zarekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05996590387859861326noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15005476.post-24110087958607356052008-10-18T20:07:00.000-04:002008-10-18T20:07:00.000-04:00I sure hope human evolution isn't over - I'd hate ...I sure hope human evolution isn't over - I'd hate to think that we're stuck with people like Sarah Palin representing the spex of our species' growth.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15005476.post-49639618573223660652008-10-17T13:19:00.000-04:002008-10-17T13:19:00.000-04:00"..but with various contraceptives available we ce..."..but with various contraceptives available we certainly don't go around making as many babies as we would have 10,000 years ago."<BR/><BR/>Actually, a foraging subsistence lifeway and a lack of long-term sedentism, the dominant human condition 10,000 years ago, also put some pretty severe limits on making babies also. Remember, population growth didn't really take off until after agriculture and sedentism.Sheldonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03743116454273042629noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15005476.post-86407868946685201002008-10-17T10:49:00.000-04:002008-10-17T10:49:00.000-04:00I have been wondering if our "modern" monogamous l...I have been wondering if our "modern" monogamous lifestyle and family planning practices do have an effect in the human evolution. I mean it's not that people are having less sexual contact, but with various contraceptives available we certainly don't go around making as many babies as we would have 10,000 years ago.<BR/><BR/>That's not a statement by the way, I am in no way qualified to do that. But it is more of a question. It kind of makes sense that changes in lifestyle and sexual practices would have an effect on evolution, maybe even slowing it down, or maybe not, maybe it just steers it in a different direction, just like the "all brown" example from this entry shows.<BR/><BR/>But evolution stopping because less 35 year olds are making babies. Nah, I don't buy that either.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com