Re:Darwinian selection continues to influence human evolution
by 6ren on Tuesday May 01, 2012 @10:25PM
(#3917352)
We're still evolving, but it's far overshadowed by cultural evolution, technology in particular.
Significant evolutionary pressures at present include: rich people having fewer children; increasing infertility and sterility (caused by susceptibility to certain pollutants?); whatever causes SIDS; whatever causes susceptibility to various serious mental illnesses; etc. In short: whatever makes one less likely to reproduce.
But these effects take at least a few generations to be visible. Contrast with our technology a few generations ago - and extrapolate a few generations into the future (we keep searching/inventing, and using the tools we come up with to iterate ever faster).
Significant evolutionary pressures at present include: rich people having fewer children; increasing infertility and sterility (caused by susceptibility to certain pollutants?); whatever causes SIDS; whatever causes susceptibility to various serious mental illnesses; etc. In short: whatever makes one less likely to reproduce.
But these effects take at least a few generations to be visible. Contrast with our technology a few generations ago - and extrapolate a few generations into the future (we keep searching/inventing, and using the tools we come up with to iterate ever faster).