Rhetoric Rants - Daily Musings and Social Commentary

Rhetoric Rants: Human Evolution Extinct?

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Human Evolution Extinct?

According to the theory of evolution, mutations occur within a species.  When these mutations are harmful, the organism is less likely to reproduce, and the gene is removed from the gene pool.  However, when the mutation is beneficial, the organism is more likely to pass on the gene and have it become a normal trait.  This is exactly how every species arrived to their current disposition.  It could also be noted that if there are no pressures or forces against these mutations, that the weaker and harmful mutations would subsequently survive and reproduce.  In humans, there are no real pressures that would wipe out these mutations in modern times.  Medical science has improved so much that diseases that would have killed people in their childhood can now live happy and fulfilling lives.  Would this ultimately make humans weaker, or will it have some other unforeseen circumstance?  Are some of these mutations actually beneficial?  Does human evolution still exist?

48 comments:

  1. The Eugenicists of the early 20th century gave a lot of thought to the problem. Unfortunately Adolf Hitler thought he had a solution.

    I did see recently that a charity in the UK was offering junkies cash to be sterilized.

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  2. Saw you used morning coffee. I downloaded this a couple days ago but didint understand how to use it. could you write back on my wall and give me some tips? Thanks

    http://mrangrie.blogspot.com/2011/01/to-everyone-checking-out-my-blog.html?showComment=1295567520270#c7678322435592256572

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  3. idk man lol but interesting blog. Followed back.

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  4. Totally agree. Nature takes its course when only those with suitable traits live on, which is not the case with humans in current times.

    Following :)

    http://the-viral-network.blogspot.com/

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  5. In a way it does. Not so much physically though =]

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  6. dammit i wish i wouldve payed attention in anthropology last semester!

    your friend,
    http://ectomorphmuscle.blogspot.com/

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  7. I've thought about this a lot, about how medicine should in theory be halting Darwinian natural selection. I think it should be obvious that natural selection can't work if something is "fixing" the bad mutations' consequences, like modern medicine.

    The morality is a little gray to me. On the one hand, it seems obvious that not helping people is immoral. But on the other hand, is allowing detrimental genes to propogate to future members of the species moral? Definitely a noodle bender.

    http://steppedkeys.blogspot.com/

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  8. We're certainly much more resistant to such negative mutations (i.e. genetic causes of heart murmurs); however, we're not completely immune-- mutations that affect attractiveness and intelligence can lead to decreased mating capability and survivability.

    But, technically the human race is growing far beyond the scope of evolution; i.e. evolution takes at least hundreds of thousands of years to work in a significant way, but humans have only spent a prescious few thousand on Earth... Thus I doubt evolution will do anything in the next, say, 100 years.

    layeroffrost.blogspot.com

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  9. Totally agree! Awesome read. Loving the blog! :D Following and Supporting

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  10. This is crazy. Medicine halting evolution? I'm not so sure about that, but I do think it's slowing our bodies defences, relying on more effective medicines.

    tehhappyplace.blogspot.com

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  11. i personally believe taking drugs and meds is bad for us in terms of evolution. it's something our system should be fighting and adapting to, not taking support for it.

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  12. " It could also be noted that if there are no pressures or forces against these mutations, that the weaker and harmful mutations would subsequently survive and reproduce."

    In our society today, we allow the inferior to reproduce, because of ethical reasons....


    Check out my blog.......Follow/Comment, Thanks!

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  13. introspective post bro.

    http://thegoldenchild3.blogspot.com

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  14. I agree with an earlier commentor saying that taking drugs and meds is bad for evolution.

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  15. humans have it too easy now, i want my natural selection back

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  16. interesting read


    http://dubstep-newdubstep.blogspot.com/

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  17. Enjoyable, Intelligent, Well done.

    http://asfarastheyletme.blogspot.com

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  18. liking the perspective, subbed and fowlloed

    http://firstgamingnews.blogspot.com/

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  19. id say so, that why we dont need are pinky toes anymore

    http://entertainvent.blogspot.com/

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  20. Probably. As pollution increases, our body may become more resistant to the CO2. Or maybe our bodies will resist heat more.

    Following

    hazdbot.blogspot.com

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  21. The entire idea of modern health advances forces the reevaluation of evolution and even to consider devolution. As much as we may loathe to speak the words, the majority of newborns are born to less successful people who are unable to afford birth control. This promotes the traits inherent in those people, which although we may be reluctant to paint things as black and white as this, most people would prefer the genes of somebody other than these people. This effectively skims the top out of (at least partly) the gene pool, and may over an extended period have a drastically negative effect. I run a fairly similar blog that addresses random topics like this, feel free to check it out.

    tinyurl.com/rant123
    ~Quid Pro Quo Fo Sho

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  22. I like your point of view but i bet creationists and evolutionists would def debate greatly about this

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  23. Like your blog!!
    follow'd!
    http://jeromessuperwelt.blogspot.com/

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  24. Well i know im gonna live forever


    http://interestingfunnynews.blogspot.com/
    I follow back!

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  25. With the current health standards, and the fact that medicine has evolved to the point people have a higher chance of bring saved from specific genetic malfunctions such as heart murmurs and so on, I would agree that human evolution doesn't take place. There's not that much stopping people from reproducing offspring, as we can see from artificial insemination. The genetics for the mutation is there, good or bad, but it always seems to level out with a bad mutation somewhere down the genealogical tree. There's a severe lack of adverse conditions to promote evolution, also.
    tomdackafs.blogspot.com

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  26. Your 4th sentence from the bottom is saying that diseases can now live happy and fulfilling lives. Ha, just pointing that out! But good question, and I've thought about this myself.

    I follow and support those who do likewise.
    toastburnt.blogspot.com

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  27. The only thing that seems to be evolving is the mind. Sadly humans don't rely on instincts at all anymore and in general seem to be becoming weaker.
    http://wildneutron.blogspot.com/

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  28. i like your idea, andi think that it ultimately will make us stronger, just because it doesnt kill us, doesnt mean we dont make antibodies, and if we pass on to our children a shit ton of antibodies, then perhaps they will be less likely to be infected by such a dieses of the past because they already have the antivirus software.

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  29. well if you look at it like this, some people live in poverty while others live lavishly; those who have more money can have more kids and thus have a bigger influence on the gene pool. so in a way, i think that evolution is still occuring.

    anyways here's my blog in case anyone's interested!
    http://lifeofbaron.blogspot.com

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  30. Love the idea dude.

    tehhappyplace.blogspot.com

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  31. the problem is, there is not realy a natural selection anymore. i would rather say it's a social selection depending on where you are living/born and if you can afford any medical healthcare. if you can not i would prefer the term "survial of the fittest"...

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  32. Wow I've never thought of that. In the animal kingdom there is no problem to allow the weaker to pass away. Due to humans being the way they are this is truly scary.

    http://www.blizzardhacks.com

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  33. no evolution stops with me. perfection!

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  34. I don't think it makes humans "weaker." Humans are already perfectly adapted to their environment and that is all that matters in evolution. No species is "better" or "more evolved" than another except in that they are better suited to their environments and passing on their genes.

    http://dustinbones.blogspot.com/

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  35. Gotta agree with Dustin, though with one distinction: it's possible that the people who contribute more to society and are stronger WOULD HAVE been selected for had evolution continued, but due to medical care, they didn't.

    Also: genetic disease is a factor?

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  36. I think we are smart enough to chose our evolution not wait for it to happen

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  37. This opens up a lot of interesting questions and ideas.

    ~showing my fellow bloggers some support

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  38. first, love the layout. as far as evolution goes, i know that since the 1100s humans have become taller beings in general. it's difficult to say because evolution is still just a theory, though believed by many to be fact. i'm not putting religion into the discussion, just that there are other possibilities. if evolution is present in our timeline, then it's really difficult to identify changes with so little concrete knowings of what was the norm in pre-history. eventually something will be known by all as fact, but that definitely will not happen in any of our lifetimes :)

    followed n such!

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  39. I think we should all go back to living in the wild. In today's society we are forgetting are true natural instincts!

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  40. of course human evolution still exists, evolution doesn't stop at thumbs...

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  41. I think that we are reaching/have reached a point where technology is "overpowering", for lack of a better word, natural selection. Anyone in a technolocal place is much more likely to be able to survive and pass on their genes.

    Following.

    http://personafanjamie.blogspot.com/

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  42. I'm a mutation. And I reproduce. hehe.

    Followyou.

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  43. medical science isn't everything, there are still life-threatening diseases that we have yet to find a cure for, but which the body can usually resist, and as with a lot of diseases, if you have it once, your body adapts and makes you immune to it, same goes for snakebites and the likes of such.

    velimas.blogspot.com

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  44. To be 100% honest, I think the human race is DEvolving. We're slowly but surely killing our own planet. "An organism at war with itself is doomed."

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  45. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  46. I think some people need to evolve :D Following and supporting back.

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