QUESTION: Man and Evolution I don't wanna get into a religious debate but Me and friend were talking. Are we more evolved today . .. than man 2000 Yrs ago? 5000 yrs ago? 10000 yrs ago? http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/tryit/evolution/indext.html If you took a child from the time period of 100 000 yrs ago . .or even 40 000 years ago. would they mentally be completely unable to learn to speak/read/etc? Would they be mentally alone the lines of a Chimp [learning sign language etc] Are we significantly different from them Mentally? - do we have more capacity to learn? What Physical Differences? Less hair - adaptation . . height - nutrition and environment. As I look at the Caveman show . . [it is kind of ridiculous] but . . . if you had a caveman baby would they be able to learn to talk and act as normal or would they be closer to a chimp or mentally challenged? Rocket River
No. 2000 years ago... Julius Caesar, Cicero, Augustus, Tacitus, etc. 5000 years ago... Bronze Age, pyramids in Egypt 10,000 years ago... pottery, agriculture, stone structures
Evolution isn't about getting to a higher place - it's about becoming more adopted to one's environment, and it's a constant force on us. As human population has expanded, we're faced with different challenges. One thing that's interesting to note. The driving force of evolution is amongst those having the most kids who in turn will have more kids. So it's really the more impoverished areas as the rich and successful are less likely to have children. What qualities are being selected for in the ghetto - because that's where current evolution is really taking place.
Great topic! I don't think people have changed an any significant way since before recorded history, aside from genetic diversity that comes from modern travel patterns. One can look back at the ancient Greeks and see they were every bit as intelligent as we are today, and knowlege is built up in layers from past genius and hard work. (Like Eratosthenes measuring the circumfrence of the Earth to within a percent or two in 300 B.C.) It is the conditions of civilization that have advanced humans more than evolution. Commonality of language, the recording of ideas for future generations to chew on.
How could you watch the 'Shock and Awe' bombing of Bagdad and not feel the warm fuzzy's of our 'evolution'? Everytime I watch the evening news and turn off the tv after the 3rd child predator report, 2 murders, OJ, Britney, Bush and 'war' that warm fuzzy of evolution hits me. You can watch 30 min of Cspan or MTV and get the same warm fuzzy. As far as poluting the planet, genocide, greed, p*rn, divorce, child abuse, racism, politics, starvation, disease, war, and human abuses we are adapting at a seriously rapid pace. When you look at human relationships cro-magnon was way behind us. It's obvious we are evolving into the most selfish group of species on earth. Are we smarter? Obviously- we have indoor plumbing and HD movies. Don't forget air conditioning and cell phones. I would say there is no correlations between love and intelligence. For the most part man still sucks at getting along with one another. If we went back to clubs instead of computerized smart bombs, go back to painting on the walls instead of the internet and pay per view, if we could go back to growing plants instead of spraying chemicals, maybe we could de-evolutionize the species and spread a little love.
Yes we have and are evoving, just look at the average height of man today versus even a hundred years ago. DD
I think diet has much more to do with average height than does evolution. Thats not to say it isn't happening at some level.
Ancient Egypt had understood steam power but only used it for show/entertainment. It was asked why they didn't invent the steam engine. Answer: when you have a whole population to do your bidding, the need wasn't there.
True that's why the avg. height of people in N. Korea is so low. They are so under-nourished that the avg. height in N. Korea is several inches shorter than their S. Korean counterparts.
I said in the other evolution thread, its hard to comprehend the time varible in evolution. 2K is not a lot of years.
but but but... look at yao ming mama = 6'2" dada = 6'7" yao = 7'6" and that's what? 1.5 generations? 40 years? so lets keep reproducing like that and see where we get terrible example i know, but you get the point
For the past 200-300 years, we've evolved through medicine and technology For the next 200-300 years, we'll evolve through Bio-Engineering and Transhumanism(?)
Those have nothing to do with evolution, they are intelectual constructs. We've been capable of such things for all of recorded history and for a very long time before that I'm sure. The difference is we learned to communicate these ideas and record them for others to expand upon. I guess you could call that evolution of ideas but I don't think that is what RR was talking about.
Additionally, you can't look at Yao's height in isolation from the rest of the population. He is most likely a statistically outlier. If he were to have a son, for example, his son would most likely be tall, but much shorter. In other words, his extreme height is a combination of genetics, nutrition, other environmental factors and luck.
