A question on evolution.?

Question

Wouldn't you suppose that we as humans, are still evolving?

What characteristics do you notice in the variety of races here today that may indicate "lagging behind" the evolutionary race?

Answer 1

Here's one suggested ways we might be "evolving." There's been a increase in the number of cesarean operations ("C-Section") This may be due to the human head getting larger or the C-section is biasing natural selection and allowing these larger headed children to survive.

In either case, children with larger heads are born. While brain size isn't a indicator of intelligence, humans have very large brains compared to out body mass.

Apply this to the human race and it's people in the developed nations that have better access to health care, therefore are more likely to have C-sections. "Race" (ie skin color) isn't really a factor.

"According to Charles Darwin's famous theory, evolution happens faster in big populations.

Harpending said the timing of the newly observed evolution acceleration coincides with explosive growth in human population, coupled with humans living in new environments and changing cultures.

The biggest changes have come since the end of the last ice age, about 10,000 years ago, which opened up new environments for the quickly expanding human population to grow from millions to billions.

More people mean more mutations, Harpending noted."

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/...

Notice in there's nothing about one race evolving faster then another. Given the spread of humanity and the gene sharing of the last few centuries, it's doubtful any one race will be isolated enough to evolve faster then any other.

Answer 2

No we are not evolving in the sense of molecules-to-man evolution.

Some people use the word evolution to mean Natural Selection - which is observed and is uncontroversial.

NS has given rise to different characteristics in different people groups (skin colour, eye shape, etc). But there is just one human race.

Evolution is the hypothesis that NS + mutations gives rise to upward change. Evolution hypothesises that there has been a massive net increase in genetic information.

Observation tells us that mutations do not add new genetic information. They either neutral or lossy, and cannot be driving evolution.

There is a good article here about how the different human 'races' have arisen.

http://www.creationontheweb.com/images/p...

Answer 3

I don't believe any race is lagging behind. We are all suited to our original climates, that's all.

Answer 4

Thats the nature of evolution, every species is always continuing to evolve. As for the race question, all humans are members of the same species, and race itself is an outdated, unscientific concept. Because we are all the same species, we are evolving together.

Answer 5

The timespan since the first civilisations is so short in evolutionary terms that we would not expect to see any noticeable changes.

Also, animals evolve in response to their environment, but we are changing our environment faster than evolution could possibly respond to it.

Lastly, in nature almost all offspring die before they get to reproduce, thereby ensuring that only the fittest genes get passed on, but with modern medicine, sanitation, food production and birth control we have created a world where most people survive long enough to have children of their own. We have removed the selection pressure that usually drives evolutionary change.

In the past certain people have suggested that some races were genetically "inferior", usually for political reasons. There is precious little scientific evidence for the idea.

Answer 6

Of course we are still evolving, as are all living beings.

There is no evidence of any current race lagging behind. About 35,000 years ago, however, another species of humans coexisted with us but they didn't survive.

Answer 7

Yes humans continue to evolve. We've recently discovered that ~10% of Northern Europeans have a natural immunity to HIV (AIDS).  Two Chinese women have also been found to have a gene that makes them immune to the virus, but this immunity has not been found in Africa. Some African prostitutes were once thought to be immune to AIDS, but later developed the disease.

http://pmsol3.wordpress.com/2007/12/02/h...

So far we have no idea how or why these genes evolved, but they are certainly valuable for detecting a means to fight the epidemic in Africa.

Answer 8

There is no evolutionary race in humans, or any other organism. Evolution, not being progressive, does not " race. "