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Lactase persistance would be a good example.Is there any evidence of beneficiary evolutionary improvements to human beings? By this I mean extra capabilities or gifts.
Has the genome project revealed any trends in terms of human evolution that points to a class of people who live among us who are the first to move to a higher state of evolution?
Or is evolution a myth when it comes to human beings?
No, skin tone is a combination of environment and genes. It's not like everyone born in climates close to the poles have the same skin tone regardless as to their lineage. The base tone you have, as well as how dark you can potentially get via sun exposure, are genetic. How you fit within that range is the environment.But isn't genetic skin tone a direct result of the environment? What we 'do' to our bodies then, based on what our environment has to offer, has long-term effects if done for extended periods of time. At least one would think.
...But that goes completely against Darwins vision of evolution.
There are a few known mutations that confer significant benefits in small human populations.
I think they're still working on assessing the huge amount of data they have from a few living subjects; it would require sequencing people of many previous generations to establish trends.
Evolution is not like X-Men.
Yes, we're still evolving. Whether you consider lactose tolerance an extra capability or a gift is a matter of opinion.
Evolution has no objective, it doesn't move towards a 'higher state'. It's just that mutations that give an individual enough of an advantage to have more offspring than the rest tend to propagate through the population over successive generations.
There are plenty of examples of creatures adapting to new niches or changes in their environment by dropping complex or sophisticated features that are no longer necessary, or are more of a disadvantage than advantage (flightless birds, sightless moles, legless lizards & cetaceans, etc).
It's not a myth.
Aren't we taller than we were in the 1800's?
Human ingenuity has overruled much of the selection-side of evolution.
Almost anyone can survive to reproductive age and reproduce, thanks to cultural and scientific factors. So beneficial novelties dont offer much comparative advantage.
as long as each new generation of humans has mutations in it not seen in the previous one... as long as the frequency of genes differs generation to generation... as long as the environment is not unchanging... we are evolving.
Of course. We're still evolving.
There are some genetic changes that can occur in an individual and be passed to their offspring, that are not the result of mutations. These are called transgenerational epigenetic changes, and generally occur when an individual's body responds to some environmental condition by setting chemical marker 'tags' on some genes or gene regulators which change the way the genes are expressed. Most of these markers are stripped off the genes when the germ cells are made, but some may remain and can affect gene expression in the offspring for a generation or two.
It's not 'against' Darwinian evolution, it's a complementary means of gene regulation that has its effect over much shorter periods of a few generations, providing a short-term flexibility of response to the environment.
That's all evolution is. Small changes that provide a statistical improved chance of reproducing slowly spreading through the population.We are demonstrably continually adapting. To prove evolution requires more than the assertion of adaptive change however.
Is there any evidence of beneficiary evolutionary improvements to human beings? By this I mean extra capabilities or gifts.
Has the genome project revealed any trends in terms of human evolution that points to a class of people who live among us who are the first to move to a higher state of evolution?
Or is evolution a myth when it comes to human beings?
No. That might be what one would think, if one didn't....think.
In an environment where bright sunshine was the norm, mutations that tended to increase pigmentation in the skin would be favoured, those that lightened it would be discourage. The reverse would be true in an environment with less intense sunshine.
Thus skin tone is a direct consequence of natural selection acting upon mutations in the context of their environment. That is is quite different from what you described.
I like comic books and superhero movies, too, but I don't get my science from them.
Evolution does not imply "improvement." It merely implies that mutations within species occur each generation, and those mutations that fit the environment continue for another generation. And "mutation" does not imply "improvement," either.
Since evolution is an ongoing process it would be irrelevant whether it was 8,000 years old, or 80,000 years old. What would be important is when the mutations responsible occurred and how sensitive the benefits/disdavantages were to the environment.Except that genome research indicates that skin tone differentiation is no more than about 8,000 years old--too recent to be the result of evolution
Perhaps not noticeable you, but quite possibly noticeable to natural selection.But it doesn't make that much difference. Generations of melanin-deprived people have lived in South Africa with no noticeable reduction in their rate of survival to reproductive age caused by sun exposure.
Since evolution is an ongoing process it would be irrelevant whether it was 8,000 years old, or 80,000 years old. What would be important is when the mutations responsible occurred and how sensitive the benefits/disdavantages were to the environment.
Perhaps not noticeable you, but quite possibly noticeable to natural selection.
Is there any evidence of beneficiary evolutionary improvements to human beings? By this I mean extra capabilities or gifts.
Has the genome project revealed any trends in terms of human evolution that points to a class of people who live among us who are the first to move to a higher state of evolution?
Or is evolution a myth when it comes to human beings?
It's origins, though, are what is mysterious. Maybe Neanderthal played a role?Skin tone differentiation is a result of selective breeding and inbreeding, just as in domesticated dogs and cats.
That's all evolution is. Small changes that provide a statistical improved chance of reproducing slowly spreading through the population.
Things like intelligence and tool use didn't jump in all at once, they slowly built on earlier adaptations.
We can see traits similar throughout the animal kingdom.
Biological evolution, simply put, is descent with modification.
So Yes, Humans are Evolving.
St Augustine said:If they find a Christian mistaken in a field which they themselves know well and hear him maintaining his foolish opinions about our books, how are they going to believe those books in matters concerning the resurrection of the dead, the hope of eternal life, and the kingdom of heaven, when they think their pages are full of falsehoods on facts which they themselves have learnt from experience and the light of reason? Reckless and incompetent expounders of holy Scripture bring untold trouble and sorrow on their wiser brethren when they are caught in one of their mischievous false opinions and are taken to task by those who are not bound by the authority of our sacred books.
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