Evolution for the human race..

[spacecat]

The main issue this planet is facing is not that of evolution but that of over population.

Advanced societies are reaching the point where they have negative or neutral population growth, which is where we as a planet need to be.

Unfortunately in the 3rd world and I include the UK in this case population is increasing with out the resources to sustain.

The UK should take a leaf out of china's book and limit family size, though 2 rather than 1 might be more acceptable.

I read somewhere that taking into account the animal populations on the planet there should be a maximum of 100 million humans

Maybe we need a few more wars or a couple of plagues

 

[Corgigrouch]

Maybe we need a few more wars or a couple of plagues

Beansprout salad anyone?

 

[Space cat]

The main issue this planet is facing is not that of evolution but that of over population.

It certainly is. Sixty years ago, the greatest perceived threat was global nuclear war. Then, about ten years later, words like "environment" and "pollution" entered the common man's vocabulary. They were wrong. Even back then, the population explosion was already well under way.

Today we worry about our carbon footprint but the greatest environmental crime of all is an unwanted baby - and I'm sorry Pope Benedict but you aren't helping!

Why do we dismiss the benefit scum as a step back... They are smart enough to figure out how to have a nice comfortable life with the minimum of effort whilst the rest of us work our nuts off --

A passing alien would agree. It would observe a subspecies that has found a way to obtain a small but adequate food supply for minimal effort. If this same alien had dropped in thousands of years earlier, it would have observed the beginnings of agriculture and noticed that, while some humans worked their nuts off to grow enough food for their rapidly expanding population, others just sneaked in and helped themselves. If they were smart, they would take only what they needed and not get caught.

It is of course an evolutionary dead end. The freeloaders cannot survive on their own.

 

[Norcon]

But didn't the homo sapien freeloaders steal from the neanderthals leading to their demise?
It would seem now the modern day neanderthals are fighting back.

 

[Space cat]

But didn't the homo sapien freeloaders steal from the neanderthals leading to their demise?

Not quite. It was cro-magnon man that displaced neanderthal man. Both were subspecies of homo sapiens. Neanderthals were once thought to have been of lower intelligence but this isn't true. They had tools and weapons for hunting and they had spare time on their hands to make ornaments. If they lacked anything it was the ability to adapt to a changing environment.

And on that note, maybe we already have a subspecies living among us who will be unable to adapt to a life without cheap oil.

 

[wreckedit]

I think the essence of evolution is the breeding ability of a species. Say, a 2 child family pattern is the norm then they will not evolve at the same rate as a 10 child family pattern. The 2 child family will not evolve by 2/10 rate but something a lot less because of a law in nature that is exponential. So, the larger families will take on more and more of a social significance. In appearance wise they will not look much different from you and I for say 10's of years. But because of the lack of work capabilities they will develop significantly large bottoms, bigger hands on longer arms.
This trait can be seen in small numbers in Job Centres where larger seats are having to be placed further away from the office desks. However, the offspring of 2 child families will be quicker to move and still stand a chance of success.
There is more to this but I must know get off down the Pub.

 

[Norcon]

This trait can be seen in small numbers in Job Centres where larger seats

You mean they are fat barstewards.
But thats not acquired as a result of evolution but rather a shyness to work.

 

[ladylola]

Has evolution for humans ended? If we believe natural selection, then the weak die,

Whereas, we strive to prolong the lives of the weak..........are we causing the human race future problems?

To answer the original question , we've evolved morals that allow us to circumvent the natural patterns of evolution and religion to back up those morals in the main (save for sparodic attempts to wipe out others that have created a different imaginary or unprovable entity) so we do care for the sick and unfortunate rather than letting them die.
Are we saving up problems for the future?
It could be argued that morals are an evolutionary cul-de-sac, pretty much like a species that has adapted to live of a single food source like koalas only eating eucalyptus leaves, there're boned if eucalyptus trees ever died out.

 

[Space cat]

But thats not acquired as a result of evolution but rather a shyness to work.

If shyness to work can be inherited then it's a form of evolution. If, as is more likely, it's a trait learnt from parents then it might still be a form of evolution. True or false; I don't know.

I'm reminded of some birds that remove parasites from each other and a biologist who asked the simple question, why do they do this? It's not as simple as it sounds because, although the species benefits, individual birds would do better to not waste their time cleaning other birds.

This biologist considered a hypothetical bird population split in two: suckers and cheats. The suckers would clean any bird that needed it while the cheats would allow themselves to be cleaned but not return the favour. This is instinctive behaviour so it's inherited. It's fairly obvious that the suckers will eventually disappear, leaving a colony of parasite infested cheats.

The way out of this is to introduce a third kind of bird which he called a grudger. Grudgers have memory and they never clean a cheat twice. Initially, the suckers lose out as before but then, shunned by the grudgers, the cheats succumb to their parasites and they too lose out.

The final outcome is likely to be a balance with lots of grudgers, some suckers - for the two can coexist perfectly well - and as many cheats as the others will accept. It all sounds very familiar!