Humans Still Evolving As Brain Shrinks

LiveScience:

Evolution in humans is commonly thought to have essentially stopped in recent times. But there are plenty of examples that the human race is still evolving, including our brains, and there are even signs that our evolution may be accelerating.

Read the whole story: LiveScience

Comments

[Levonsky]

Something is causing large brain people not to reproduce at the same rate as small brain people.
I suggest that small brain people are preventing or stopping large brain people from reproducing as much.
Or maybe large brain people are not reproducing as much out of choice.
Course, if you think about it. Da Vinci- no kids. Michaelangelo- no kids. Isaac Newton - no kids.
Einstein- i think he had a daughter. Stephen Hawking - a daughter?.

[blisster]

Evolve, devolve, two sides same coin, what is involved is the eventual decay, destruction, or restructure, if you will, of our life source, the sun. If man has any chance of survival, we need to get off this rock at some point, in order for our DNA to contine to "evolve".
Think Star Trek or even that silly Lost in Space show and wonder at the Asimovian possiblites.

[RedDogBear]

In fiction its a lot easier to solve problems like traveling faster than the speed of light. In the real world the closest earth-like planet (assuming ANY exist, we haven't actually found one yet) will be at least 100 light years away. The speed of light is a THEORETICAL limitation, not a technical one. With current science we can't even CONCEIVE of a way to travel faster, let alone build the technology. So even with the best possible theoretical technology it will take us at least 200 years to make a round trip to an earth-like planet. At the same time the Sun is going to be just fine for around another billion years or so, so we don't need to be in any hurry to leave. I like Star Trek and Asimov too but I live in the real world, we are facing real problems such as global warming and peak oil that need to be addressed in order to save THIS planet which is the only one we are going to have for quite some time.

[ray01]

Are we evolving?



Sitting infront of a standard TV for one evening is guaranteed to shrink the size of your brain.

[RedDogBear]

Which is totally irrelevant to if you are evolving. Any changes made after an animal is born are irrelevent to evolution. Such changes aren't stored in our genes and hence are not passed on. That's why evolution takes so long. The only things that count are your genes and if and how often you pass them on.

[ray01]

Please cite one example of consciousness evolution in the last 2000 years.
We are killing each other today with guns, Predator drones, laser guided bombs, etc.
2000 years ago we did it with clubs, swords, stones.
The consciousness behind the brain has not evovled one iota since recorded history 7000 years ago.

[Darwin256]

According to the scientist interviewed for the article:

"As to why is it shrinking, perhaps in big societies, as opposed to hunter-gatherer lifestyles, we can rely on other people for more things, can specialize our behavior to a greater extent, and maybe not need our brains as much,"

The human brain has been shrinking over the last 5000 years.

Perhaps genetic engineering will change things.

[slvrfox857]

(Tongue in cheek) A few weeks ago HufPost ran an article talking about how women are evolving greater physical beauty. Is there a connection? If we look good enough to attract a mate and pass on our genes, perhaps we don't need to use our brains quite as much. Based on mass media and pop-culture, maybe this isn't really funny but more true than we'd like to believe.

[RedDogBear]

There is nothing tongue and cheek about it. Being successful from an evolutionary standpoint has nothing to do with being good or smart or creative, unless those things help you pass on your genes. From the standpoint of evolution that is the ONLY thing that matters which is why women ARE evolving to being more desirable. Which is also why its a mistake to view evolution as somehow an arbiter of what is good and valued. Evolution is a way of explaining how we got here, not a metric for where we should go from here.

[mjeffn]

Evolution stopped? Evolution can no more be stopped than it can be started. Evolution happens regardless.

[Vetinari]

Basically true, but human society can evolve so that the traditional driving factors for evolution are becoming irrelevant, thus stopping evolution seen in the traditional way.

[RedDogBear]

Human society is just one more factor influencing evolution. Look at bacteria for example, there are all sorts of new strains of bacteria developing to be resistant to the anti-biotics developed by humans. However, I do think you have a good point, that human impact is becoming so sifnificant, and for the most part happens so much more rapidly than evolutionary change, that its taking over in terms of the most significant impact on evolution and everything else going on on the planet.

[Pleneras]

I agree. Never thought evolution had an ending. The moment I undestood the term I was in agreement every continuew to evolve on and on and on. The title assumes someone claimed man reached a point where he was done evolving... I on the other had thought we all might end up hairless one day

[LREKing]

"Evolution in humans is commonly thought to have essentially stopped in recent times."

Perspective is everything.

[Dice Klay]

brain size is shrinking because of physical degeneration from industrialized food. We should be eating fresh raw organ meat with plenty of fat and fresh raw plants.

I know everything about the human condition. we are past the omega point and falling falling falling. not only are the repugs devolving our society, but so are the vegetarians.

[mydwyf]

Are you Klingon by chance ?

[DJ Koolkat]

This post is hilarious

[NoSillyName]

Evolution stopped in recent times?! That's the biggest joke I've heard in a very long time.

This pathetic state of humankind cannot possibly be the end result of thousands of years of evolution.

[sheilaofmiami]

eat more meat

[JohnFromCensornati]

"Evolution in humans is commonly thought to have essentially stopped in recent times."

The rise of the Republican Party has lead to a lot of misinformation.

[KarateKid]

We have very convincing evidence of this fact. Just look at all the conservative _trolls we have here at HP. They can't spell very well, their grammar is abysmal, they can't distinguish between your, yore and you're or they're, their and there.

They're also afflicted with a healthy dose of _bigotry but are in denial about it. They didn't care a whit while Bush took money out of their pockets, but beginning in 2009 they suddenly get concerned. You didn't hear anything about Socialism or _Communism before 2008.....even though it was Bush who put through the first TARP.

Add a healthy dose of selective memory, and there you have it, the segment of our population with smaller brains.

[Tulka2]

"We are DEVO" .

[goddess1871]

I honestly can't think of one thing that you just said that was in any way misleading or inaccurate. I think you pretty much hit the nail on the head. Good work.

[vandegrasse]

I was going to make that same goddain comment and you beat me to it! Good job! LOL!!!!!