Are we still evolving?

Question

i know we evolved from apes and stuff... but are we still evolving and what is changing if we are

Answer 1

Yes we are still evolving... just very slowly.

Answer 2

We will probably never stop evolving because our environment is changing all the time so we will probably never stop evolving, but evolution takes hundreds of thousands or years or even millions of years. The process goes on slowly.

Answer 3

Yeah, humans will probably be born without an appendix, or pinky toe soon enough.

Answer 4

Sure we're still evolving.

People are taller than they were in the 1800s and maybe even later.  If you go to places in New England, you will definitely notice that a lot of older buildings (houses especially) have shorter doorways.

In response to the above: becoming paler could just be due to mixture, racial or otherwise.  Hairiness as well since some ethnicities (some Amerindian tribes for example) are already less hairy.

It's a little doubtful that people will be consistently born without pinkies or appendixes.  Some people however, are born with an extra finger or toe or are missing limbs.

Another point is that evolution typically occurs over a long period of time, but drastic changes tend to happen very quickly (as in a hundred or thousand years as opposed to millions).  If a genetically altered, superior being is born and commingles such that others are produced through reproduction, then evolution is occurring.  So if women only reproduced with taller men, the entire species would likely to become taller.  

Another thing to note is that, because we are intelligent beings, we are able to force evolution.  Most domestic dogs, for example, are the result of years and years of cross-breeding, etc.  Most of these dogs wouldn't be able to survive in the wile, but they're cute!  We see new types of dogs being "created" all the time.

One last point, with respect to humans.  During slavery, some slaveholders would only allow the stronger slaves to have children.  This, somewhat and arguably, accounts for the preponderance of African American sports stars, even though African Americans only make up 12% of the country.

So certainly evolution is still occurring.  Insofar as no two people are alike, when they mix, the results are equally dissimilar and unpredictable.  Slight changes, which take years and large amounts of effort (natural or forced) lead to evolution as natural selection runs its course

(and please don't take that as an argument for social Darwinism...the argument that social inequality is acceptable as nature lifts up the "better abled" thereby legitimizing the plights of the "disadvantaged")

:-D hope this helps

Answer 5

yes

Answer 6

No.

Most species for most of their existence were pretty stable.

We're too numerous and too spread out for any beneficial mutation to take hold in the species as a whole.

And there's not the pressure for evolution, as we have culture and technology to help us thrive.

BTW, the person who said we're gotten taller has it wrong on two fronts: evolution does NOT work that fast. Shorter heights were due to greater prevelance of malnurishment. Our genes set a maximum height for each of us; quality of nurishment when we're in the womb, babies, and children determine whether we reach that max or are shorter.

There have always been SOME tall people (Thomas Jefferson, for instance); just not as many, and there used to be more short people.

Answer 7

Not as strongly as we did in the past,especially since in more recent times,like the other girl said,we make the environment to suit our physiologies,not the other way around.

Answer 8

Yes and No. I don't think we're going to evolve as much as we have in the past. The main reason we evolved was a mean to adapt to our environment. Now thanks to technology, we can make adjustments to our surroundings to make life easier

Answer 9

Well be like mutants... soon we will have supernatural powers! I'll have powers to throw laser beams out of my eyes and soar like a bird.

Answer 10

I had seen a documentary on this some years back.  According to that, we are becoming paler, less harry, and our heads are becoming smaller.