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arthur mitsias

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Has technology accelerated human evolution?

my question is based on my observations of events that have happened in my own lifetime,we went from conventional warfare to atomic bombs ,we went from party line telephones to blue tooth, we went from the encyclopedia to ipads,we went from maps to gps,we went from libraries to kindle,we went from Sunday dinner to Mc Donalds,we went from radio to 50"flat screen 3d television,skype,electric cars,and we put a man on the moon.All of this in one life time.what use to take millions of years to happen,. is now happening in generations.I watch little kids walking towards doors they dont stop because they know its going to open,young children using computers to write and draw.I guess my question is,am I right in thinking that human evolution is accelerating.

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  • Hyun Kim

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    Jul 18 2012: Human evolution has stopped since the moment we used tools(technology) outside of our own physical capabilities to hunt. This isn't a bad thing, it's just that there's only so much that natural selection is able to do in a given timeframe, but if technology can overcome that speed, then natural selection stops.

    Evolution is defined by changing necessary bodily functions to adapt to the surrounding environments. This is how from single atoms, we have evolved into the complex, multicellular organisms that we are today. The moment that we fashioned rocks into tools of hunting was when humans stopped being influenced by natural selection, stopped evolving, but in turn came up with something even greater, technology.

    Technology and tools are technically one and the same. An arrowhead is technology, so is pencil and paper. A computer is a much more advanced form of technology, but could not have been conceived without previous advancements in technology, including but not limited to such things as semiconductors, electricity, and even plastic.

    Humans are not evolving. They have stopped evolving since the first homo sapien used a sharpened rock to do what his own physical body limited him from doing. Technology is continuously improving, and at the same rate the knowledge available to humans is growing. If humans were to evolve, if it got cold in the winter, we'd start growing fur, and lose it in the summer. That's not how humans work, instead, we use technology, such as a wool sweater or jacket to stay warm in the winter, and loose clothes in the summer. That is technology, and that is human progress.

    • arthur mitsias

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      Jul 19 2012: i agree with you , physically we have not changed ,in fact we are not half the person we used to be, we have lost the prowess,the strong sense for self preservation,even our need to procreate,but i think in the long run the trade off is working.
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      Max Gutapfel

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      Jul 20 2012: It didnt stop it just got overshadowed.

      • Hyun Kim

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        Jul 20 2012: What proof is there that it hasn't stopped? How has natural selection influenced humans once we discovered medicine and technology?

        • Bill Stoneberg

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          Jul 23 2012: I'm curious as to what makes some people think that evolution has stopped, or that it can stop? Why would evolution stop? Our environment doesn't stop changing, whether naturally or by our own innovations in technology. Evolution takes a very very long time. Longer than a few generations. Were humans 1000 years ago biologically different from us? The "evolution" of technology is not evolution of the species.

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