Brain Doctors.

[Hysteresis]

if the eye evolved, then whats the next step,,is it not already perfect. what other features do we need as human, that would improve us.
as i see it , i dont need an extra arm,or eyes , or a bigger toe . so were is the next evolving bit .

I think you have answered your own question breadnbutter.
Evolution will take us where ever it needs us to go to survive as a species. If another arm presents another advantage then that advantage will be promoted due to natural selection, if it is a disadvantage to have a third arm then it won't be promoted. The advantage has to happen through a random mutation and if it presents the advantage then it will be developed as a result of the advantage. If better eyes sight is an advantage then it also will develop. The way we are going maybe the bigger brain is the advantage and if that is the case we will develop heads as big as Pumpkins as Joe-90 suggested. Unfortunately Joe has not recognised that it takes millions of years for evolution to do it's bit. In the that respect Joe's question is also answered, in the past few million years, being able to run faster has been a bigger advantage that being able to think bigger things, so we have a brain the size it needs to be to survive and procreate the advantages.
It's easy really.

 

[chapeau]

if the eye evolved, then whats the next step,,is it not already perfect. what other features do we need as human, that would improve us.
as i see it , i dont need an extra arm,or eyes , or a bigger toe . so were is the next evolving bit .

Well - the eye did evolve, there is no 'if' about it.

What comes next? Might be handy for the species to gain resistance against some novel infectious disease eg mad cow prions. Diseases resulting from climate change. Resistance to environmental poisons we are chucking out. The list is endless.

 

[RonnyRaygun]

if the eye evolved, then whats the next step ,is it not already perfect?

Actually, our eyes are quite rudimentary when compared with some other species. Look up the mantis shrimp. Even the humble goldfish can see both ultraviolet and infrared, and we already know the benefits of this from night vision cameras etc.

what other features do we need as human, that would improve us.

What about wings? I'm sure wings would give us huge advantages as long as we didn't lose our arms in the process. This is the problem. Every bird or winged mammal has had to give up arm function. This is because evolution had already gone down a path where vertebrates have a maximum of four limbs. It would take a pretty major mutation for a vertebrate to grow another set of limbs...

So much of natural selection is about compromise, and the human species is far from perfect. We are small, we are slow, and we are weak. Our senses of sight, hearing, and smell are appalling compared with many other animals, but we have many advantages over other species. Walking on two feet frees up the hands, and this coupled with our intelligence explains our success as a species.

 

[longdogs]

Just reading some of the replies to this post explains why it is so difficult to understand the human brain.

 

[joinerjohn]

The way we are going maybe the bigger brain is the advantage and if that is the case we will develop heads as big as Pumpkins as Joe-90 suggested.

Well if that's the way we are going, women are going to have rather large parts of their anatomy, or just one child each.

 

[chapeau]

So much of natural selection is about compromise, and the human species is far from perfect.

We share our breathing hole with our drinking hole. It would be an complete idiot who designed that from scratch.

 

[Hysteresis]

Well if that's the way we are going, women are going to have rather large parts of their anatomy, or just one child each. [/quote] to larger brains

That is a good point highlighted by RonnyRayGun. The evolution development of the female form is a limiting factor. The Woman producing a large headed off spring is killed in the process along with the offspring as it cannot survive the birth process. It is therefore all self limiting by natural selection.

 

[RonnyRaygun]

That is a good point highlighted by RonnyRayGun. The evolution development of the female form is a limiting factor. The Woman producing a large headed off spring is killed in the process along with the offspring as it cannot survive the birth process. It is therefore all self limiting by natural selection.

Although these days we are able to bypass the natural birth process with C-sections. I wonder how many large headed people are walking around today who are only alive because their narrow hipped mum was given a C-section.

In the past they would both have died. But again, it's our large brains that have made their survival possible.

 

[Hysteresis]

Although these days we are able to bypass the natural birth process with C-sections. I wonder how many large headed people are walking around today who are only alive because their narrow hipped mum was given a C-section.

In the past they would both have died. But again, it's our large brains that have made their survival possible.

Totally agree, but of course the percentage of C-Section births is minute compared with normal births, so much so that its effect would be insignificant on the evolutionary process don't you think.

 

[chapeau]

It's going on 25% now in the UK. Was < 10% when I were a lad and only that high because people used to play on the safe side. Back then of course the juniors had a lot more experience performing natural and instrumented vaginal births, and mothers didn't demand them as much. So it's probably actually safer to section them nowadays as that is easy peasy.

The real rate should be around 5% probably (if you could get it right every time, which is pretty impossible) and I guess that would be the figure to use if you were to argue it's real effect on evolutionary pressures.

 

[joe-90]

The thing is though that the brain of a complete idiot is the same as the brain of a genius - so how does evolution of the brain work? (bearing in mind that we haven't got a clue how it works).

 

[peterperfection]

The thing is though that the brain of a complete idiot is the same as the brain of a genius - so how does evolution of the brain work? (bearing in mind that we haven't got a clue how it works).

In Men- the brain has been proven to have a DIRECT Link to the 'D!ck'.

The D!ck' as we know it is considered the 5th Limb. (for the lucky few).

 

[breadnbutter]

So much of natural selection is about compromise, and the human species is far from perfect.

We share our breathing hole with our drinking hole. It would be an complete idiot who designed that from scratch.

we breath through our nose,we eat through the mouth. most of the time.
it works, so whats the problem.

by the way i am not a species, lol ,you might be, but i definitely not. one

 

[peterperfection]

So much of natural selection is about compromise, and the human species is far from perfect.

We share our breathing hole with our drinking hole. It would be an complete idiot who designed that from scratch.

we breath through our nose,we eat through the mouth. most of the time.
it works, so whats the problem.

by the way i am not a species, lol ,you might be, but i definitely not. one

And some people talk through their @r$e

 

[RonnyRaygun]

by the way i am not a species, lol ,you might be, but i definitely not. one

You sound confused bnb. Are you saying that Homo Sapiens Sapiens is not a species? Or did you think I was calling you, as an individual, a species?

If the latter, no individual is a species per se, but every individual is a member of a species (in the case of humans, Homo Sapiens Sapiens).

If the former, Homo Sapiens Sapiens is definitely a species, characterised by the inability to breed with other, non human, animals. But there is only one human species, and that's why any male human on the planet can breed with any female human on the planet (providing that they are fertile).