Are Humans Still Evolving?

Evolution has been a topic for many years in the field of science. According to the Theory of Evolution, humans have been once apes and are still categorized as descendants of the ape family. This evolution was caused by variations and mutations in `order to fit into the environment and to survive. However, in the story “Devolution” by Edmond Hamilton, there is a completely different and opposite view of how humans have changed after millions of years. Whether humans were once a higher form of life and have been degrading into lesser beings or have derived from a more advanced type of being is a large discussion to take into consideration. Clifford D. Simak and Edmond Hamilton emphasize how changes evolution have caused an increase or decrease effect on human beings.

Human beings are still very much evolving. According to recent studies, genetic changes in women over the years have decreased the age at which they birthed their first child. In one study the age decreased as much as four years from age 26 down to age 22 (Allen 2011). Another concurrent study looked at women’s physical appearance in correlation with the number of children they had. The resulting data revealed that, “stout, slightly plump” women had more children. Researchers found that these characteristics are passed on from mothers to their offspring and so forth (Harrell 2009). Therefore, as these traits are passed from generation to generation, the population grows and these characteristics become more prominent in the population. All of these findings confirm that the evolution of human beings is still very much an ongoing process.

Darwinian medicine, unlike most medical research that is focused on the proximate causes of diseases, looks at diseases from an evolutionary perspective; it seeks the reasons behind why natural selection has favored certain characteristics that are involved in disease acquisition or prevention. It looks into several concepts of adaptation including which types of adaptations combat pathogens, adaptations that pathogens have developed to counter other organism’s adaptations, maladaptive costs of organism’s adaptations, and adaptations that are no longer useful in our present day environment. The goal of this new science is to support advancements in the medical field. The ideas presented by Darwinian medicine are highly theoretical and still at the beginning of the process of development. Although it is a new science and has been a neglected perspective in the medical field, it offers insight on why natural selection has not selected for a flawless organism, what kinds of adaptations organisms have developed to combat injury, and what kinds of adaptations organisms have developed that are viewed today as mental disorders,.

The adaptation perspective looks at how humans and other organism changed due to the forces of natural selection in order to adapt to problematic issues like pathogens (Eaton, Konner, and Shostak, 1988; Williams and Nesse, 1991; Stearns and Ebert, 2001). The historical perspective branch looks at the history of evolution in the past to see the relationship of humans and the relationship that we had with diseases. This paper will use the adaptationist perspectives because it focuses into the present to understand how modern medication effect natural selection for human adaptation. Closely related to the Evolutionary Biology is the field of Darwinian Medicine (Evolution Medicine). Darwinian Medicine is using Darwin’s evolutional thoughts to the flied of medicine. It is looking at the medical field to try and learn about the influences that it had on human evolution in the long run. By using the adaptation perspective and the understanding of Darwinian Medicine this paper will be able to explore how modern medicine influence the natural response of the body and how that changed the adaptation of humans and

Biological evolution is an ongoing process defined as ‘descent with modification’. Theories of evolution are founded upon the central concept that all life on Earth has a common ancestor. By the transformation of species throughout time, including changes within a species and the origin of new species, this ancestor gave life to the diversity of organisms seen today (Losos, 2015). This diversity includes changes in gene frequency between generations, or the descent of various species from a common ancestor over many generations (Museum of Paleontology). The fundamental model of evolution is deduced from fossil records and evolutionary change (natural selection), and inferred by the examination of phylogeny. Therefore, evolution is summarised

The theory of evolution in itself is an evolution. The way humans understand how life came to exist and how it has changed along the way reflects the different socio economic environments we have created. For any scientist, previous theory’s and ideas from historians or other scholars are used in part to form the basis of understanding of new information (Klyve, D. k. 2014). The understanding of evolution as we see it today comes from many areas of the world amid varying time periods. The most famous and current understanding is that of Darwin, in 1859 his book On the Origin of Species revolutionized the way we see life and its continuity through natural selection. In this essay I will look at a project pertaining to the observational study of tropical fish that have changed through time with natural selection and divergence of geographical isolation. Scientists have found that by comparing genome scans, links in different lineages of Pacific reef fishes give an example of how isolating barriers contribute to morphologic changes in the species, (Gaither, M. R.,2015). I will also look at another study which suggests that natural selection is flawed as it does not take into account the current understanding of genomics. this study suggests that instead of natural selection and the process of evolving traits through the added complexity of structures in a species, species evolve due to random changes from the evolution of genomes (Randall JE 2007). Their idea if genomes

The evolution theory, one of the most significant theories, laid groundwork for the study of modern biological science. This theory has lead scientists into unending debates due to lack of empirical supports. Until the mid-eighteenth century, when Charles Darwin came up with an explanation to evolution, scientists, then, began to endorse this hypothesis. In “Natural Selection,” Darwin explains the natural selection, a plausible mechanism that causes evolution, to gain approval of his cynical audience for his evolution theory. He supports his claim with numerous examples of animals and plants that have developed traits beneficial for survival. A century later, Stephen Jay Gould, influenced by Darwin’s work, supports the evolution theory

EVOLUTIONARY time scales are difficult to comprehend from a human perspective; resultantly, anthropocentric conceptions of time have perverted evolutionary theory. Evolution is seen by laymen as a generational process - a process pondering the question: if the offspring of sexual organisms are always different from their parents, why does speciation only take place over many thousands of generations? Speciation - even adaptation for that matter - cannot be viewed in this microcosmic scope. For the purpose of this paper, speciation will be defined as the elimination of any "potentiality for interbreeding among members" of non-conspecific groups (Daly & Wilson, p70). Adaptation arises by the "trial and

Accompanying this study, was another study which established that the advent of modern human behavior doesn’t show any genetic mutations. This study relied on the cave art and other advanced tools. According to a geneticist at Harvard Medical School who led the analysis of genomes of people from 142 distinct populations, our genome is carrying the history of our ancestors. Willerslev said that there hasn’t been any type of evidence indicating the magic mutation which have made us humans and study also notes that the KhoeSan (bushmen) and Mbuti (central African pygmies) populations are known to have split off earlier from ancient humans, also indicating of no \biological change which would lead to the human

Earth is a quintessential mecca for approximately nine million different species of plants, animals, reptiles, bugs, and more. These creatures have modified to adapt to changes in environment in a process called evolution. This natural flow of life is related to natural selection, a term coined by Charles Darwin, and should not be tampered with. Medicine has been able to save countless people from death and should be regarded as both a beneficial and malevolent savior. Due to the leaps and bounds made in medical advancements, more specifically in terms of human medicine, natural selection has been put on the proverbial back-burner of the grill by humans’ moral values for preservation

Since the publishing of Charles Darwin’s Origin of Species, where the theory of evolution has arisen from, people have debated Creationism versus Evolution. Through supporting facts and statements the theory of evolution will be defended as being more than just a theory, and proven as fact. Evolution as a fact is reinforced through; scientific studies on DNA, genetics and its mutilation, the Fossil Record and the change in earlier species that has been found, and finally the distribution of related species of animals over a broad geographical range.

Charles Darwin coined the Theory of Evolution which consisted of the idea that organisms arise and develop through natural selection. Humans were included in his nonspecific conclusion that species adapt to their environment on account of survival of the fittest, and in doing this, it increases one’s ability to compete, maintain life, and reproduce to keep their superior breed alive. While Darwin was thinking of the bigger concept, the present day analyst can conclude that his theory can be applied to a multitude of things customarily in life. This evolution of the individual thesis’ has exceeded the periphery of Charles Darwin’s theory as foreshadowed by his own philosophy. In America for example, there has been a concentrated century

In chapter 2, the idea of evolution was discussed. The debate between genetics vs. the environment was also examined more in depth. When learning about evolution in this chapter, the topics of natural selection and adaptive behavior were taught. I agree with both of these concepts of evolution. I believe in the process of evolution; in that we evolve from other forms of life. Natural selection and adaptive behavior are very relevant matters in the development of humans. I do believe that organisms learn how to survive from their natural environments.

Mankind has evolved. Paper currency, the invention of the light bulb, the discovery of life-saving antibiotics, and the internet have changed life as we know it, and advances are being made every single day. Despite the ever-changing world that we live in, mankind has not evolved in terms of morality. While more social constructs that enforce moral behavior exist today, such as laws against violent crime, there is much evidence that humans today retain the same moral ideology as ancient civilizations. Additionally, many individuals believe that morality has evolved due to to our increased awareness of good in the media; this makes it appear as though our generation is less wicked than previous generations. However, Dawkins opposes and supports

In 1859, Charles Darwin in his book On the Origin of Species declared that human beings developed overtime from more simple forms. Evolution suggested that the human species originated from ape-like creatures and gradually changed in structure. Essentially, given the changing patterns of weather and environment, the species had to acquire new skills and adapt to survive. Those that could not change were eliminated in a process that is known as Natural Selection (Larson 47). The Evolution theory, since its inception, has prompted heated debate with supporters forwarding several arguments to support this conception. Alternatively, those against the theory have enthusiastically contested the credibility of the evolution theory. They in turn, proclaim that the theory lacks substance and it does not satisfy the experimental demands of science. It is important to understand the basis of arguments against evolution.