  |
| Author |
|
turniphead1
Totoro
Registration Date: 10.09.08
Location: Earth
Posts: 826 |
|
|
 08.05.2009, 05:19 PM |
  
|
DreamSequencer
Warawara
Registration Date: 04.22.09
Location: Sydney \m/
Posts: 210 |
|
|
I think the species will die out before it evolves again, we are still an extremely young race.
But with all the technology, medicine and changes we can make to our bodies, evolution is not really an issue, we are evolving synthetically.
If we left our bodies the way nature intended them, then maybe we could have evolved.
__________________
|
|
| 08.06.2009, 03:21 AM |
|
reecetard
Calcifer
Registration Date: 06.02.09
Location: Beijing, China
Posts: 125 |
|
|
I agree, i think we will all dissappear before any major changes happen.
If anything was to happen, i just think we would be born with heightned senses and strength.
 x
__________________
~ No matter how many weapons you may have ~
~ No matter how great your technology may be ~
~ The world cannot live without love ~
|
|
| 08.06.2009, 04:56 AM |
|
phenolphthalein
Tanuki
Registration Date: 06.30.08
Location:
Posts: 72 |
|
|
I think within 5000 year, all hair will disappear from the human body with only a small amount remaining on our head. Our head will be bigger to accommodate a larger brain. No distinctly white or black people will remain as mix marriage results in all the colours to be blended together until we're all a perfect rainbow. Hawaii will no longer exist due to rising sea level (oops that not human evolution). By 10000 years we will have a 6th finger on each hand....and our feet will be as coordinated as your hands for good reasons.
|
|
| 08.06.2009, 06:33 AM |
|
Roarkiller
Your Daddy-O
Registration Date: 06.03.03
Location: Home, resting...
Posts: 6077 |
|
|
The only part we will evolvemost significantly, in my opinion, is our immunity system.
Granted, we're a pretty young species, but we have evolved quite a lot the past few millennia. People then used to be bigger and taller, but as with virtually every other species, we've shrunk.
Skin tone, as phenolp said, will probably be less jarring, but won't disappear completely, since the idea of heavy melanin content is for protection in very hot countries like Africa, while the opposite is true for countries like Canada due to the lack of sun during seasonal changes. Besdies, this is more due to the mixing of genes than actual evolution.
What would really degrade, if evolution were to occur, would probably be our physical strength. Since we no longer need as much strength, agility and stamina as before, it follows that several generations in the future, the capacity for said attributes would fall.
That's my penny's worth.
__________________
I am me.
I am who I am.
I am Roarkiller.
No one else is me.
Roarkiller.net
Isakaya High RPG Site
quote:
Originally posted by fenkashi
Screw your opinions, they are not relevant ^^.
|
|
| 08.06.2009, 08:34 AM |
|
phenolphthalein
Tanuki
Registration Date: 06.30.08
Location:
Posts: 72 |
|
|
I thought natural selection aka mixing genes in the long term meant evolution. I mean how else do species evolve? meh
We growing weaker is hard to say, there are sports now that are beyond anything before our time.
**phenolphthalein hopes all Japanese will evolve to be great anime directors** (omg, anime isn't in fire fox's spell checker's vocabulary)
|
|
| 08.06.2009, 10:10 AM |
|
turniphead1
Totoro
Registration Date: 10.09.08
Location: Earth
Posts: 826 |
|
|
| 08.06.2009, 12:00 PM |
|
Chihiros-Dream-Boy
Totoro
Registration Date: 08.29.06
Location: London, England
Posts: 805 |
|
|
One things for sure, there won't be much individuality in the future, as said previous, future generations will all look the same, and we'll have no will to fight our future robot masters!
I guess to safeguard the future, I'd better be cryogenically frozen on my death? 
__________________
|
|
| 08.06.2009, 01:53 PM |
|
Theowne
Baron
Registration Date: 02.11.07
Location: Toronto, Canada
Posts: 1290 |
|
|
Well, I think it's a given that evolution is not going to be as significant in modern technological societies. Way back when, when we were hunter gatherers, things like physical stature, or say, eyesight, are very important. Those who possess them are preferred, reproduce more, and pass these traits onto future generations in greater numbers. But with technology, those kind of things can be manufactured. You don't need to be fast and strong to provide food anymore. A scrawny computer programmer who works at Microsoft is able to provide protection to his family through other means compared to what it was in primitive societies.
|
|
| 08.06.2009, 02:30 PM |
|
Saddletank
Miyazaki's Best Friend
Registration Date: 09.28.06
Location: On your case
Posts: 10069 |
|
|
quote:
Originally posted by Roarkiller People then used to be bigger and taller, but as with virtually every other species, we've shrunk.
I'm confused. The opposite is true.
__________________
Isakaya High School Roleplaying Info
"An old man like me stands no chance fighting against a high school girl in her underwear" - Oshino Meme, Nekomonogatari (Kuro)
|
|
| 08.06.2009, 10:27 PM |
|
phenolphthalein
Tanuki
Registration Date: 06.30.08
Location:
Posts: 72 |
|
|
quote:
Originally posted by Saddletank
quote:
Originally posted by Roarkiller People then used to be bigger and taller, but as with virtually every other species, we've shrunk.
I'm confused. The opposite is true.
Humans have actually grown to be bigger in recent years. But that has nothing to do with evolution. We have grown to be bigger in 2 or 3 generations, that's not evolution or results of genes, its just humans eating more. We can't really take that into account when we consider evolution.
|
|
| 08.06.2009, 11:09 PM |
|
Mush
Baron
Registration Date: 07.30.07
Location: South of Canada
Posts: 1810 |
|
|
quote:
Originally posted by Roarkiller
The only part we will evolvemost significantly, in my opinion, is our immunity system.
Really? I figure that that would degrade the most, because of modern medicine. Our immune system doesn't have to put up with nearly as many insults as our ancestors' did. These days we pasteurize our food, sterilize our cutlery, and wash our hands with soap.
Furthermore, even if more and more individuals are born with immune system deficiencies, medicine will (in most cases) be able to provide treatment. So those individuals will remain in the gene pool and have kids, who might share such deficiencies.
But I guess, it's not really a major deficiency if it's treatable.
__________________
|
|
| 08.07.2009, 04:49 AM |
|
phenolphthalein
Tanuki
Registration Date: 06.30.08
Location:
Posts: 72 |
|
|
please note mushka, most people receive vaccines at a very early age, and most people annually against common types of flu. Vaccines do not replace our immune system, it tricks our immune system into thinking there are pathogens so our lymphocytes will produce the requires anti-bodies to fight them. So our immune system is actually still adapting.
There are medicines which replace the need for an immune system such as anti-virals and anti-biotics, but how often have you had to take those because of a common flu or a mild fever?
|
|
| 08.07.2009, 07:32 AM |
|
Roarkiller
Your Daddy-O
Registration Date: 06.03.03
Location: Home, resting...
Posts: 6077 |
|
|
Regarding our immune system, I was thinking more along the line of viruses themselves evolving, hence our immune system has to keep up in order to prevent the human species from dying out. These self-defence traits should be independent from whatever medicine we take.
@Saddle: If you're referring to the size of your gut (lol), then yeah, we've grown bigger. Otherwise, virtually every species generally shrink as a basic form of evolution. Giant reptiles are now the size generally the size of a notebook, and gliding monstrous birds can fit even in the palm of our hands. Insects then were measured in feet, instead of millimetres now.
There are exceptions, of course, like those giant cockroaches in the Amazon and earthworms in Australia, but otherwise, even primates are subject to the same shrinking evolution as everything else.
The basic theory goes that, in order to survive, the most obvious attribute is the ability of "fight or flight". In cases of "flight", speed is key, and it doesn't take a genius to know that the smaller you are, the faster you can run away. And so our genes start to stunt our growth little by little. There's also the theory of gravity, which is why whales are said to have been evolved from dinosaurs; they chose to leave the land for the seas as a way to deal with gravity pulling down on their huge bodies.
On a related note, two perfect examples of creatures who are virtually unchanged these thousands of years are the cockroach and the shark. Both, as you know, are virtually perfect the way they are.
__________________
I am me.
I am who I am.
I am Roarkiller.
No one else is me.
Roarkiller.net
Isakaya High RPG Site
quote:
Originally posted by fenkashi
Screw your opinions, they are not relevant ^^.
|
|
| 08.07.2009, 10:29 AM |
|
Mush
Baron
Registration Date: 07.30.07
Location: South of Canada
Posts: 1810 |
|
|
That's true. While you don't pass on vaccination to your offspring, if your immune system isn't capable of reacting to the vaccine, then you won't survive as easily.
However, I think vaccines are generally a 'pacified' pathogen - like training with a punching bag. The vaccine doesn't really hit back. When our ancestors encountered smallpox, their immune system would need to overcome the fully virulent virus in order to survive. Many people died. But a vaccine lets just about anybody's immune system overcome such a virus.
The immune system still has to work, for sure - otherwise the vaccine won't work. But it doesn't have to react as quickly as it does when being exposed to a real virus that you aren't vaccinated against.
So basically, just vaccines also let people with 'lazier' immune systems survive viral outbreaks, just like medication.
Anyway, don't get me wrong! I think that's a really good thing that more people can survive. I'm not a social Darwinist, and a lot of really talented people have died young from illness throughout history, when they could have gone on to do more great things. Like Mozart, for example. I'm a big supporter of medicine, and I think it's just dandy that natural selection doesn't always have its way. 
Edit - Uh, Roar, whales are mammals. I don't think they evolved from dinosaurs.  As I understand it, the general tendency of growing smaller / larger is usually a response to climate conditions. Dragonflies in the past were huge when the atmosphere had lots of oxygen, so that they could metabolize better and keep more weight up in the air. I seem to recall that cold-blooded animals, like lizards and snakes, also could grow really big in hot and humid climates. Though the reason for that escapes me...
__________________
Post last edited by Mush on 08.07.2009, 10:41 AM.
|
|
| 08.07.2009, 10:38 AM |
|
Roarkiller
Your Daddy-O
Registration Date: 06.03.03
Location: Home, resting...
Posts: 6077 |
|
|
Birds are scientifically accepted to have evolved from dinosaurs as well, and they're not reptiles either. Besides, species type change is another form of evolution itself. There are at least one recorded reptile species that still retain some form of gills, from the time when they were non-reptilian aquatic creature.
And there's always the platypus, if you need a nice example. One of two mammals that, gasp, lay eggs, a reptilian attribute.
__________________
I am me.
I am who I am.
I am Roarkiller.
No one else is me.
Roarkiller.net
Isakaya High RPG Site
quote:
Originally posted by fenkashi
Screw your opinions, they are not relevant ^^.
|
|
| 08.07.2009, 11:11 AM |
|
Saddletank
Miyazaki's Best Friend
Registration Date: 09.28.06
Location: On your case
Posts: 10069 |
|
|
We have grown taller and more physically robust in the last millennium. You just need to look at the average dimensions of medieval house doorways and at medieval suits of armour and such to see that the human frame has grown bigger in all dimensions. Note this is only a general trend, individuals vary of course and may argue against the general trend, though this does not disprove said trend.
This is, as others have correctly said, merely a response to general standards of living and diet over the last few hundred years.
The fossil record for upright walking bipedals shows that all earlier creatures similar to us such as Neanderthals were smaller.
We are getting bigger, Roar, not smaller.
__________________
Isakaya High School Roleplaying Info
"An old man like me stands no chance fighting against a high school girl in her underwear" - Oshino Meme, Nekomonogatari (Kuro)
Post last edited by Saddletank on 08.07.2009, 12:01 PM.
|
|
| 08.07.2009, 11:59 AM |
|
Kazegami
Miyazaki's Best Friend
Registration Date: 08.19.07
Location: a world of pure imagination
Posts: 7025 |
|
|
Hm. It seems that perhaps our height fluctuates then. I remember seeing William Wallace's sword in some museum, and it was like... longer than I'm tall. It was huge. And like you were saying Saddles, the suits of armour and stuff. But I reckon we're smaller now than we were in the mediaeval times.
__________________
My Anime List
|
|
| 08.07.2009, 12:19 PM |
|
Chrisss
Calcifer
Registration Date: 02.11.09
Location: California
Posts: 107 |
|
|
| 08.13.2009, 04:56 AM |
|
Dark Totoro
Ohmu
Registration Date: 10.09.08
Location: Ayr, Scotland
Posts: 321 |
|
|
To be honest, I think in the near future our Legs will literally detiorate. Think about it.., even in present time we hardly use our legs. We all depend on motor vehichles - public transport etc. We dont even need to go out to the town to do shopping anymore - we buy everything from the internet. With technology rapidly advancing I think we would end up looking like a cross between the humans from WALL-E and Munch from the Abe's Oddyssey series. Horrifying, Tiny extremities instead of legs... a huge head capacity.. no body hair.. its like we become our own B-Movie creation. Well thats my theory anyway. I think it makes sense. And I also agree with Roar, Okay saddles it may seem were getting bigger because of dieting and activities, but if what I said becomes reality - 0% Exercise would lead to becoming smaller and fragile.. right?
__________________
It's like I was frozen in a cryogenic tube 
Post last edited by Dark Totoro on 08.18.2009, 03:46 PM.
|
|
| 08.18.2009, 03:43 PM |
|
|
|
|
|
Online Ghibli
Ghibli Tavern is powered by WoltLab, hosted by Teragon Networks
|
|
