There is a debate between creation and evolution. Many believe that if you take enough time and genetic mutations, you could theoretically go from plankton to humans. Many believe that there was something else which created life and formed it into being. The numbers game from plankton to human are such long odds and because of my upbringing I can't say that I hold with an evolutionist theory to where man is today.
However, that is not to say that I don't believe that evolution doesn't exist because animals, bacteria, viruses and the such absolutely do change over time. Now sometimes this is planned. Just look at all the different varieties and breeds of dogs out there. Selective breeding has created many varieties of dogs that would never exist in nature. Or perhaps look at Africanized honeybees a great idea gone horribly wrong. Or look at genetic mutations in bacteria leading to antibiotic resistance and increased pathogenicity.
So, when I look at how things evolve over time I generally think of three things. Numbers, Breeding, and Chance.
The more units get produced the more chance there is for a genetic mutation. Now most genetic mutations are lethal but every now and then you get a beneficial one. However the chance that a mutation will be beneficial? Exceedingly small. When you have 8 billion people in the world breeding every twenty years...maybe... the numbers aren't in our favor. However, you look at rabbits which have 6 offspring every 2 or 3 months...the numbers get much bigger much faster. Still, the numbers are small. When you look at bacteria which reproduce in minutes in the billions..Now the numbers get interesting, or scary, depending on what you are looking at.
So while random genetic change is purely by chance a pure numbers game. Selective breeding is a different animal (pun intended). If a breeder always takes the largest of the litter and matches with other largest of the litter then you absolutely get larger animals in the future. How do you think that giant breed dogs exist today? I would also hazard a guess that is a factor in why humans are on average larger now than they were in antiquity. Also with genetic engineering people can play god with the genomes of animals and introduce many genetic changes that may change nature in the future. Transgenic modifications have happened in certain crops. Look at golden rice: Take regular rice, add a few daffodil genes, and now you have rice that has beta carotene (a vitamin). Familiar crop but new vitamin profile. Horray! But then again, how many mixes and matches until something comes up that people didn't expect or didn't want? Hmm....
Survival of the fittest as it has been called. The strong survive and the weak die. Well, strong and weak is a bad example. The ones that fit the best survive. A bear that learns to avoid human hunters survives while one that attacks hunters ends up euthanized. In the end bears that stay away from humans are favored and the bear population becomes more wary of people. Whatever has an advantage in staying alive is favored over time and passes along their genetics
People like to think they are "beyond" nature and in a way that might be true. However, when it comes to evolution I'm thinking we have hit a dead end. Ever hear of the word "Presentism"? It is the idea that modern is better. Modern society is far more advanced than ancient society so we must be better people, right?
I would say that is not true at all.
Ever watched reality TV where modern people are placed in the wilderness and are paid big sums of money if they can survive for a week or longer? How well do these people fare? Typically they have a very rough time of it. Do you know what those conditions were called 200 years ago? Life.
Just yesterday I drove from Vancouver to Terrace. 1400km and I did it in two days. It was a long tough drive. How about 150 years ago? The people then would have walked and carried enough food with them for a very long trip! My wife was tired after a 30km hike and spent days recovering. Go back in time and that was just an average Monday!
Or consider the Philippines. When I am in Manila the average person thinks a 1km walk to the store is a long walk. Go back to the late 1800s and the average Filipino warrior wouldn't think twice about running 450km from the north of the Philippines to Manila to avenge dishonor (there are stories of it happening).
I would postulate that physically the average person today would be far less fit and far less capable than their ancient counterparts.
I could also say that same about ingenuity and academic curiosity but I'll hold off for brevity.
I could make a case that as a species we are going backwards. But why?
Well as a numbers game we have a lot of people but in general we expect children to actually survive into being adults. In the past? That certainly wasn't a given. If you have 10 children you might have half of them survive. Now people don't have 10 children, we might have 2, and we expect both to survive. From a genetic standpoint? Much less chance for genetic variation if you have far fewer children.
But there is also the survival rate. Now if someone is born with a genetic issue they will likely survive. Severe asthma? No longer a death sentence. Diabetes? No longer a death sentence. Lupus? No longer a death sentence. I could keep going on but in general many people who would have been "frail" and died early in times of old survive now. It is great that they can lead happy and healthy lives with modern medicine but from a evolutional cull the weak and strengthen the herd? Not very useful.
Which brings up the idea that mankind isn't getting better because of evolution but rather people are getting weaker but we have way cooler technology to make up for it.
Lets take a modern Olympic runner VS an average Roman Messenger from two millenia ago. Who wins the race? The olympic athlete of course. Or is it. On a modern racetrack? Yes the modern Olympian wins but over 40km of rough terrain like the Roman Messenger would run every single day? I'm giving it to the guy who did it for a living. That is taking our best vs their average. If you take an average guy today...he's getting destroyed by the ancient guy.
But what I really wanted to say was that the modern runner has the advantage of superior training methods, superior footwear and physical supports. Superior clothing for cooling and streamlining. Superior rehydration and nutrition. The science supporting them is just that much better today than before. Are they genetically superior? No. Are they allowed to grow in a more advanced way? Yes.
The same can be said for almost anyone today. Our scientists aren't smarter but they have way better tools for learning. Our drivers aren't better but they have way better vehicles to drive. Our athletes aren't superior in genes but they have access to way better nutrition, training methods and technology support.
Evolution wise I think people are at a dead end. Our gene pool is shrinking as people have fewer and fewer children. Indeed if you look at many nations their population is declining. Why bother with children when they are so much work and you can lead a better life without them being a burden?
Japan, South Korea, China or many other countries. Take your pick and I will say that humans as a species are in decline. With AI we are outsourcing much of our talent to computers. Music, image creation, writing, coding, and more is so much easier if people don't have to work hard to create it. Add AI and Robots? Let our machines do the work we so can just lead a life of luxury without hard work. Slowly people become irrelevant and our evolution stops.
But that doesn't mean that evolution is stopping. Invasive species will breed and adapt to make our wild places more dangerous and not what they remember them to be.
Bacteria, viruses and yeasts will continue evolving. Their selective breeding from years of warfare against antibiotics and such have made them far more dangerous than ever before. When our antibiotics fail and evolution gives us bacteria better than our medicinal science? That is a very scary thought.
I do hope that in the future people learn from their mistakes. I do hope that we can change our ways and bring back old time grit and determination and couple it with modern science and technology. People may not evolve but I hope our way of thinking does. I hope that we can learn to live with nature and use our science to make both our lives and the lives of those that are with us on this planet better. If we do that I believe we have a bright future.
But.. if we continue decadent ways where we use science to shield us from nature and live as we please? I have a feeling that evolution will give rise to diseases that we can't cure. Pests we can't live with. Plants we don't want and generally nature will evolve in a way that makes life for humans more difficult and less pleasant.
But that's just my quick take on things.
I'd love to get feedback
Side note to the Hive learners crew.... I didn't realize the prompt was over ... misread discord. But I got this far so better to post than delete. Oops.
