why humans dont evolve

I heard once that human beings would eventualy evolve to be bald, because we don't need body hair to keep us warm anymore. That's ridiculous. It doesn't work that way. It's caused by natural selection, or portions of a population having characteristic's that enable them to survive environmental events that kill off those that don't have those characteristics. So has the process stopped in humans? Probably not, but I don't see people becoming camouflaged or growing scales. We don't face the same types of challenges as lizards. We don't have predators, unless you consider viruses as predators. In which case, if a virus comes along that kills everyone except those with a natural immunity, then the survivors will most likely pass that characteristic along to all their offspring, so then you could say that the human race had evolved. So yeah, we can still evolve, we just don't have any obvious challenges at this time severe enough to bring it about.

 

I don't think thats ridiculous. Body hair also keeps the heat away, much like wearing a white t-shirt on a summer day.

Plus, how do you think animals adapt towards their environment? There has to be some sort of intelligent force that causes animals to adapt, and not just "random potentially beneficial mutations, and nature killing off what doesn't work".

 

Well, that's the theory. It's neither been proven nor disproven. Believe what you like. But I do like to believe that intelligent design has some role. Some creatures have made adaptations that seem too complicated to be the result of random mutation alone. So we may have two mechanisms in play at once.

 

Would we recognize evolution if we seen it. Also, too many are looking for physical evolution. This may not be the only way a species can evolve. One thing I know is that life expectancy has increased over the last hundred years are so. This is do mostly to technology but is that not a way we evolve?

 

perhaps our evolution it more mental then physical.... our brains are getting bigger (i know thats a phsical addaptation) and maybe we will soon be using more parts of it as well. i guess we will have to wait the 10000 years and find out haha

 

Technological advancement as evolution? I don't know. I suppose it could be considered a type of evolution. Back in ancient days, people who had the ability to produce fire had an advantage over those that couldn't. And traits such as intelligence and ambition can definately be passed down. So yeah, I suppose it is, and it applies to animals as well, we just call it "instinct".

 

I wouldn't say it's intelligent design (which tends to imply God -> Christianity), as much as intelligence. Everything in the universe is intelligent. Whether cells/tissues/organs, viruses, amoebas, hamsters, monkeys, octopus, or people. They're all beings of intelligence.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3xmqbNsRSk

Just look at that. How did orcas learn how to predate seals like that, and teach their young? Just understand this one clip..... or ants, bees.. sea otters using rocks to crack shells...... viruses, venomous predators....... INTELLIGENCE!!!

Technology is an integral part of evolution. Technology is a natural extension intelligence...... and life is about intelligence.... it doesn't matter if its man-made or natural, the end result is same. The only thing about us humans is that our intelligence + ability to manipulate has extended our dynamic adaptability much beyond that of "similar creatures". Native Americans managed the plains with fire burning so they had tons of buffalo to hunt. Sea otters use rocks to crush hard shells. We use agriculture to get tons of food per acre, and insects massively populate these farms because of the ease of food. We use pesticides on them, and they resist.

So you see, it is all evolution. Everything adapts to each other. Yin / Yang.

 

How is anything too complicated over millions of years of evolution?

 

That's my opinion. In some species, there just seems to be too many characteristics that seem to have had to develop at the same time, or are dependent on one another to be the result of random mutation alone. And some adaptations are just way out there. I remember reading something in a science magazine a few years ago about a type of wasp in South America. This wasp preys upon a specific type of spider. It stings the spider, but doesn't kill it. The venom acts on the spider's brain, altering it's behavior. It forces the spider to build a nest for the wasp. As soon as the nest is completed the spider becomes paralyzed. The wasp then lays it's eggs, and the hatchlings then eat the spider alive. Was this actually a step-by-step evolutionary process involving two different species simultaneously?

 

True that.........

The tree in the neighbors place has huge thorns on the branches that were an adaptation so that the wooly manmouth would not strip the tree bare.

Manmouth are all gone now but that adaptation remains as a curiosity.

 

The Neanderthal is gone 30,000 years ago. A mere wink in geologic time.


To think that tyranasourus rex or alligator retain the same form for millions of years. Human seems to be evolving quickly by comparison.

 

That is a much needed perspective Piney. People keep thinking they can put evolution in a box. Even thougn we are not decended from the Neanderthal, we did evolve from a common ancestor.

Think larger, not smaller.

 

I want to amend that to, think larger and smaller.

 

Yes, it probably was, the universe is old and complicated. There are numerous insects that do what you're describing, it's not a rare thing. Like humans and other primates, developing true color vision in the abilities to see reds was pretty damn complicated, but a very useful tool in our evolution.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWB_COSUXMw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMG-LWyNcAs

If you should understand one thing, it's that nature is intelligent. The evolutionary theory explains the mechanism by which cause populations to shift, but doesn't thoroughly explain the mechanisms of mutation ("random" / intelligent)

Plus, two separate species can simultaneously evolve similarly. Wings for insects and birds. Passive and active camouflage.

 

People need to remember how long this takes. The amount of years involved in this is hard to grasp for the mind sometimes. For example, modern humans as the distinct animal, homo sapiens, are estimated to be about 250,000 years old, we are pretty new, archaic homo spaiens(which neanderthals are also thought to have evolved from), i.e. nearly human but still physically a bit different are estimated to have appeared about 400-500,000 years ago. Homo habilis which eventually lead into homo erectus starting about 3 million years ago, where the 1st humanoids had fully developed bipedalism and started to use simple tools.

That's 2-3 million years. Put into persecptive, modern civilization has only existed for about 7,000