Has evolution stopped?

[Rduke55]

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One of the prerequisites for speciation is geographical separation

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This is not true. While geographic isolation can play a huge part in speciation it is not necessary by a long shot.

[Borodog]

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One of the prerequisites for speciation is geographical separation

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This is not true. While geographic isolation can play a huge part in speciation it is not necessary by a long shot.

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I stand corrected.

[chezlaw]

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Evolution as is commonly known has ended. People these days don't die because they are slow or weak or stupid.

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"Survival of the fittest" is only one simplified part of evolution.

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and just because people are slow, weak and stupid does not mean they are not evolutionary fit. Couple of the posters here seem to think the fast, strong and intelligent are un-fit.

chez

[Rduke55]

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Evolution as is commonly known has ended. People these days don't die because they are slow or weak or stupid.

[/ QUOTE ]

"Survival of the fittest" is only one simplified part of evolution.

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and just because people are slow, weak and stupid does not mean they are not evolutionary fit. Couple of the posters here seem to think the fast, strong and intelligent are un-fit.

chez

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This is a great point. Some of the adaptations that make the cow so successful is that it's slow, dumb, and tastes good. Not that that's really natural selection but it's the same principle.

[chezlaw]

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Evolution as is commonly known has ended. People these days don't die because they are slow or weak or stupid.

[/ QUOTE ]

"Survival of the fittest" is only one simplified part of evolution.

[/ QUOTE ]
and just because people are slow, weak and stupid does not mean they are not evolutionary fit. Couple of the posters here seem to think the fast, strong and intelligent are un-fit.

chez

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This is a great point. Some of the adaptations that make the cow so successful is that it's slow, dumb, and tastes good. Not that that's really natural selection but it's the same principle.

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Tasting good is an excellent example of evolutionary fitness and natural selection at work. Cows and fruit are great examples.

Widespread vegetarianism would be a disaster for the cow species.

chez

[Trantor]

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Evolution as is commonly known has ended. People these days don't die because they are slow or weak or stupid.

[/ QUOTE ]

"Survival of the fittest" is only one simplified part of evolution.

[/ QUOTE ]
and just because people are slow, weak and stupid does not mean they are not evolutionary fit. Couple of the posters here seem to think the fast, strong and intelligent are un-fit.

chez

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This is a great point. Some of the adaptations that make the cow so successful is that it's slow, dumb, and tastes good. Not that that's really natural selection but it's the same principle.

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why isn't this natural selection at work?

[Spaded]

We might be devolving faster and faster as our pediatric and pre-natal care gets more and more advanced. Consider a baby born with a congenital heart disease that will kill it by age 5. In the 19th century, it wont live to reproduce. In the 21st century, he/she recieves the latest surgery and survives, has kids, and passes the demon heart gene to their progeny. The Hippocratic Oath / medical ethics dictate that you save a baby's life if they are dying, right?

Sexual selection could help people evolve/devolve, too. Example: an obese couple has obese kids who tragically get diabetes at young ages, yet survive and marry more obese people with medical problems that they inevitably have. Eventually, the horrid effects of childhood obesity in successive generations get stronger and stronger, and they don't survive to reproduce.

Sorry if it offends anyone, but evolution doesn't give a damn.

Humans survival advantage has never been our physical abilities. It's been our mental abilities.

[benkahuna]

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Humans survival advantage has never been our physical abilities. It's been our mental abilities.

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Indeed, and that being the case, it's very hard to disentangle our abilities to fix congenital and other health problems from our ability to survive without them. Wouldn't our medical advances and ability to pass those advances to future generations be part of our fitness? I would say it is.

It's not unlike the contribution of cockroach flatulence to global warming, terraforming the planet to be more suitable for them. (I'm not kidding and the contribution is significant.)

And if we achieve the ability of interstellar travel before the sun expands and evaporates the ocean and makes earth largely uninhabitable by man, the ability to travel to other earth-like planets will be to our evolutionary advantage.

[Aytumious]

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Humans survival advantage has never been our physical abilities. It's been our mental abilities.

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Indeed, and that being the case, it's very hard to disentangle our abilities to fix congenital and other health problems from our ability to survive without them. Wouldn't our medical advances and ability to pass those advances to future generations be part of our fitness? I would say it is.

It's not unlike the contribution of cockroach flatulence to global warming, terraforming the planet to be more suitable for them. (I'm not kidding and the contribution is significant.)

And if we achieve the ability of interstellar travel before the sun expands and evaporates the ocean and makes earth largely uninhabitable by man, the ability to travel to other earth-like planets will be to our evolutionary advantage.

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Exactly. Evolution certainly has not stopped. Frankly, it is ridiculous to think that it has.