Scientists believe that humans descended from monkeysin the process of evolution. Our distant ancestors walked leaning on their hands, and only then straightened up. Also, in the course of evolution, our brain developed, as a result of which we learned to make tools, talk, and so on. Some scientists believe that human evolution has long stopped and we will not become better. They explain this by the fact that we have learned to adjust the environment to our needs, and have also developed medicine to such an extent that many diseases are no longer scary to us. But the driving forces of evolution are precisely adaptation to new conditions. Whatever some scientists say, others are sure that man is still evolving. And they are right, because there is evidence of human evolution.
Despite the arguments of some scientists, we are still evolving
Contents
- 1 How evolution happens
- 2 Are humans evolving today?
- 3 Evolution of modern humans
- 4 What will we become in the future?
How evolution happens
Before we learn how people change over time, we need to understand how evolution works.
As we know, evolution occurs as a result of genetic mutations. Every child inherits certain traits from their parents. According to Popular Science, various factors influence which traits are passed on to future generations.
First, evolution is driven by mutations. Every child is born with about 70 new genetic mutations that are not related to their parents. These can be passed on to future generations, and this is an integral part of evolution.
Evolutionary changes can take tens of thousands of years, it is a very long process
Secondly, there is genetic drift, also known as the Wright effect. These terms are commonly understood to mean the randomness that determines which genes will be passed on from parents to children and in what proportions.
Thirdly, evolution is driven by gene flow. In short, people are constantly migrating, carrying their genes to new places, which also affects evolution.
Fourthly, sexual selection affects evolution. People do not choose partners randomly, and this also affects which genes are passed on to the next generations of people.
And finally, we should not forget about natural selection. Environmental conditions determine which genes are best suited for people to survive and reproduce successfully.
Read also: Why did only Homo Sapiens survive out of all human species?
Are humans evolving today?
All the above evolutionary mechanisms are still in effect today. Each of them works in its own way and at different speeds, depending on where you live and other factors. Major evolutionary changes happen very slowly, but small ones happen constantly.
It took us millions of years to evolve from monkeys to humans
There is an opinion that modern medicine has stopped natural selection. But this is not true, because doctors still cannot treat some diseases, and not every person has access to advanced medicine. Although we can slightly change the direction of evolution, this does not mean that we have stopped this process.
Evolution of modern man
Scientists have plenty of evidence that humans are still evolving. For example, in 2014 it was discovered that over the past 2,000 years, the inhabitants of Madagascar have developed resistance to malaria. It was developed as a result of genetic mutations that passed through generations.
The fact that people digest lactose in milk is also a result of evolution. This feature primarily appeared among the inhabitants of the Middle East, Europe, and Africa after they began to engage in cattle breeding.
Many evolutionary changes are invisible to the eye
In 2017, researchers studied the genes of a huge number of people in the UK. They wanted to find those that are less common in older people. This could mean that such genes prevent people from living long lives. As a result of the study, scientists found only two such genes. One is associated with the risk of smoking, the other with Alzheimer's disease. This means that evolution may have already “removed” many genes that are harmful to us.
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What will we become in the future
If evolution is still ongoing, what might we become in the future? Scientists can't answer this question because it is impossible. Evolution is a process, not an end result. We have no idea how the conditions around us will change in the future, so we cannot imagine how our bodies will change.
It is possible that we will change most under the influence of technology
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Nevertheless, scientists are trying to predict what will happen to us. For example, they once managed to imagine how our faces will change during evolution.