Are we not evolving before our eyes?

When one thinks of evolution are we thinking the physical transformation only? When a monkey starts using a stick to put in a hole to snag some termites is this technically the monkey evolving? Is evolution in many ways the ability for a species to survive? I guess what I'm getting to is that there is a great deal of discussion around GMO or genetically altered humans for that matter. I don't think we ever stop evolving so despite the criticism around certain people playing god with our DNA in some respects this is just another level of evolution for us albeit on a molecular level. I believe the idea of monopolizing GMO foods or seeds for strictly profit is just a byproduct of good intentions just. I think for the purpose of what I percieve to be evolution we seem to be heading in the right direction unfortunately there are some evil people that will manipulate the process. Thoughts?

Microevolution is observable. Macroevolution happens via mircoevolution over millions of years.

It is possible for scientists to alter/modify the human DNA/Genes, check my signature mate

AS for the monkey using stick thing, i tend to stick with my ideology that that is adaption you know, i need something, i'm going to use that item to get it. It isn't evolving per se.

De- evolving maybe.
We might be living longer but our illness rates are sky rocketing. People are becoming for the most part dumber, fatter sicker and lazier.
The human DNA has been corrupted now more than ever before. Blame it on whatever you like but humanity is going backwards.
The scary thing is the scientific community are running in fear of creationists so wont publish the facts, the clear and by en large unquestionable fact is that humanity has peaked and is now in de- evolutionary free fall.
Its not a joke and its not debatable, human DNA for the most part has become so corrupted by outside influences, we as a race are regressing.
The evidence is plentiful, search it out yourself. I am not interested in arguing this with ignorant people to lazy to search the net for themselves.

reply to post by daaskapital


Evolution of behaviour is called "Sociobiology" and is a totally fascinating subject.

E.O. Wilson defines sociobiology as: “The extension of population biology and evolutionary theory to social organization”[1] Sociobiology is based on the premise that some behaviors (both social and individual) are at least partly inherited and can be affected by natural selection. It begins with the idea that behaviors have evolved over time, similar to the way that physical traits are thought to have evolved. It predicts therefore that animals will act in ways that have proven to be evolutionarily successful over time, which can among other things result in the formation of complex social processes conducive to evolutionary fitness.

Here are some links
en.wikipedia.org...

reply to post by Hellhound604


Thanks for the info mate. Now i have some interesting reading to do

Originally posted by chrismarco
I don't think we ever stop evolving so despite the criticism around certain people playing god with our DNA in some respects this is just another level of evolution for us albeit on a molecular level. I believe the idea of monopolizing GMO foods or seeds for strictly profit is just a byproduct of good intentions just.

Evolution is normally defined as a gradual process.

There's nothing gradual about playing God with DNA, you can make a new species immediately.

I suspect human evolution may have slowed down, though not stopped.

One thing that can result in evolution is the less fit life forms dying off before they get to reproduction age. Even a century ago, infant and childhood mortality was an issue for humans, but it's been reduced so dramatically that even humans who would have died as infants a century ago are making it to reproductive ages.

Also chimps are pretty good at using tools:

Chimps observed creating and using tools.


Chimpanzees' sophisticated use of tools - BBC wildlife


So much for the myth I was taught that man's use of tools is something which separates him from lower life forms.

Originally posted by borntowatch

Its not a joke and its not debatable, human DNA for the most part has become so corrupted by outside influences, we as a race are regressing.
The evidence is plentiful, search it out yourself. I am not interested in arguing this with ignorant people to lazy to search the net for themselves.

Well I have looked and I can't find any evidence that our DNA is changing (for better or for worse) or has changed in the past 50 years say. A star to the person who provides some proper scientific evidence to the contrary!
Nonetheless I do agree with your argument. I think the claim that we are evolving into some sort of super consciousness is just so much wishful thinking. Nor is the recent Arab Spring or OWS movement evidence of anything (evidence of Twitter maybe :lol). Fact is that most people don't protest about anything unless it's something that affects them personally.

Physical evolution has largely been replaced with human directed "evolution" or "change" mainly in the technology category.

Natural evolution is slow, painful, and mostly faulty in that it produces a mutation that doesn't create any survival benefit(most of the time).

If your curious about the evolution of the universe, and the evolution of technology, I have a decent thread here

www.abovetopsecret.com...

pic related-

reply to post by borntowatch


I blame are overweight on our inability to stick to fresh fruits and vegetables where the core of our nutrients should be coming from...process food regardless how healthy or convenient does little for us with respect to eating healthy...I the majority of our illnesses whether pyschological or physical are a result of what we or our parents have consumed..

reply to post by VonDoomen


Thanks

reply to post by Arbitrageur


"So much for the myth I was taught that man's use of tools is something which separates him from lower life forms."

I was not even connecting the dots with that thought..I too remember hearing similiar statements in class and if I'm not mistaken there had been some chimps that I think were washing their food in water..

reply to post by chrismarco


spot on about the fruit and veggies.

No matter how healthy store bought foods seem (except fresh produce), it really isnt good for you.

a very high majority of all foods sold will contain "preservatives". Preservatives are just a nice way of saying something toxic or poisonous. A preservative prevents microbial life from eating food while its sitting on a shelf.
What do you think happens when our cells encounter these preservative compounds? a human cell is really not that much different from a bacteria cell. I know the quantities of the preservative arent enough to be considered lethal for humans, but that doesnt mean its not bad for your body to deal with.

also, thanks for the thanks! haha

reply to post by chrismarco


Crows, raccoons, otters, and cephalopods(? squids/octopi) are also very intelligent critters that have exhibited some form of tool use.

Altho I would surmise that dolphins and whales may be more intelligent than the previous animals, but do not have the physical ability to use tools.

Its interesting to note, that dolphin and whale language is more complex than human language, and this i a statistic scientists use to grade a species intelligent. And by having a more complex language, what i mean is that their language has a bigger "alphabet" if you will, than ours. Actually alphabet may not be the best choice of words, instead I should say phoenames.

We haven't had any need to evolve. Technological progression has taken the place of evolutionary progression.

Originally posted by Hydroman
Microevolution is observable. Macroevolution happens via mircoevolution over millions of years.

Wrong. Micro-evolution is adaptation within the existing genetic code. Macro-evolution requires the actual addition of new information/new genetic development, not changing expression of the existing genetic code. Scientists have never been able to point to a single mutation increasing the information content of genetic code.

It's all supposition at this point, with various other suggestive indicators (which have their own contradictions and alternate explanations).

As to the OP's monkey/stick example, no, not illustrative of evolution. Evolution, by proper definition, is "is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations," not necessarily related to survival - that would be natural selection (which is primarily a function of macro-evolution/the expression of genetic diversity present within a species.

As far as GMOs and genetic experimentation - I don't think it's just a natural extension of the natural process, we're splicing and recombining things in all sorts of ways *likely* to never be induced in nature, or very likely choked out at the start due to counterproductivity of the involved mutations before they reached the end point of what we achieve with our means.

We also tend to rush our products to dispersal without the VERY long periods likely needed to confirm any probable impacts (as we're now finding with the pest-resistant-GMO-resistant pests, etc.) that would otherwise be expressed and limited in scope/territorial impact & spread in a natural developmental situation.

Once again, man's reach exceeds his grasp.

It is my belief that we have reached an evolutionary cap. The only way we advance forward from here is through self altercation. Genetically altering our own species, making us better.


a new race will emerge. #2040 problems

life always adapts (evolution/de-evolution) is happening to all living things, all the time (very slowly of course). the next big jump in human evolution wont be too far away but it wont be biological and instead will be humans adapting their own bodies with technolagy.......

who doesnt want a bionic arm, honestly?

Originally posted by borntowatch
De- evolving maybe.

De-evolving, being dumbed down, becoming weaker, docile, feminized, lower fertility rate, and more from the chemicals, vaccines, GMO and other things they use on us.

Originally posted by mwuhi

Originally posted by borntowatch
De- evolving maybe.

De-evolving, being dumbed down, becoming weaker, docile, feminized, lower fertility rate, and more from the chemicals, vaccines, GMO and other things they use on us.

that is only a small part of it.

in western countries cranial evolution is being brought to a screeching halt. intelligence is no longer being promoted to breed with intelligence. that said physical prowess continues to improve because that is the evolutionary trait most desired now, and thusly most past on and improved upon. and even that trait is countered with new "ingredients" in the food supply, namely HFCs which don't process out like sugar and soy, which has feminizing effects (estrogen) in the body.