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> We're post-evolution Definitely not.

by klipt 5y ago

echelon 5y ago
We're post "natural" (for some definitions) selection. C-sections, pre- and post-natal care, life-saving medical advances, glasses/contacts, artificial limbs, ... Not to mention most people don't actually hunt or grow their own food, build their own shelters, or sew their own clothing. But evolution is still happening. (nit: I had this comment sitting in a buffer because downvotes on this thread and elsewhere subject me to the HN bad commentor rate limit.)
- WesleyHale 5y ago
  There are still incurable diseases and cancers some are immune to and some are not due to genetics.
  - NortySpock 5y ago
    I don't think your parent poster would disagree with that statement. If different things kill you, natural selection shifts slightly.
- nscalf 5y ago
  Yep, this is more or less what I meant by post evolution. We are clearly still changing by natural means, but for most of the existence of all living things in the world, change occurred by evolving. Humans change by using technology to intervene, and the rate of change of our intervention mechanisms is so massive that we’ll likely not notice evolution in any meaningful scale ever again.
falcor84 5y ago
What do you mean by "definitely"? Other than some evidence of evolving protection against HIV in Africa, I'm not familiar with any good evidence of modern day selective pressure.
- klipt 5y ago
  Consider Tinder profiles saying they'll only date someone over 6'. Sexual selection is one of the most powerful selective pressures.
- munk-a 5y ago
  Evolution is insanely slow and it will take a while for our bodies to catch up to us but it is a constant force that you're never "beyond". The only thing that might count as an end is detaching ourselves from the phsyical bodies that facilitate natural evolution (i.e. ascending to beings of pure energy or whatever) - and even in that case, we'd probably still constantly tweak and improve our existence, we just will have moved beyond natural evolution. I think there's a thought that eugenics was a natural evolution of evolution[1] - and, as a society, we generally find that rather repulsive and don't do it... But just because we're aware of ways we can artificially speed up the process doesn't mean the process isn't continuing. 1. It's a thought, or conception - this isn't me endorsing eugenics in any way. I just believe that, mechanically, it could achieve a similar result just accelerated and with a lot of really important moral questions.

> We're post-evolution Definitely not.

by klipt 5y ago

> We're post-evolution Definitely not.

We're post "natural" (for some definitions) selection. C-sections, pre- and post-natal care, life-saving medical advances, glasses/contacts, artificial limbs, ... Not to mention most people don't actually hunt or grow their own food, build their own shelters, or sew their own clothing. But evolution is still happening. (nit: I had this comment sitting in a buffer because downvotes on this thread and elsewhere subject me to the HN bad commentor rate limit.)

WesleyHale 5y ago
There are still incurable diseases and cancers some are immune to and some are not due to genetics.
- NortySpock 5y ago
  I don't think your parent poster would disagree with that statement. If different things kill you, natural selection shifts slightly.
nscalf 5y ago
Yep, this is more or less what I meant by post evolution. We are clearly still changing by natural means, but for most of the existence of all living things in the world, change occurred by evolving. Humans change by using technology to intervene, and the rate of change of our intervention mechanisms is so massive that we’ll likely not notice evolution in any meaningful scale ever again.

falcor84 5y ago

What do you mean by "definitely"? Other than some evidence of evolving protection against HIV in Africa, I'm not familiar with any good evidence of modern day selective pressure.

klipt 5y ago
Consider Tinder profiles saying they'll only date someone over 6'. Sexual selection is one of the most powerful selective pressures.
munk-a 5y ago
Evolution is insanely slow and it will take a while for our bodies to catch up to us but it is a constant force that you're never "beyond". The only thing that might count as an end is detaching ourselves from the phsyical bodies that facilitate natural evolution (i.e. ascending to beings of pure energy or whatever) - and even in that case, we'd probably still constantly tweak and improve our existence, we just will have moved beyond natural evolution. I think there's a thought that eugenics was a natural evolution of evolution[1] - and, as a society, we generally find that rather repulsive and don't do it... But just because we're aware of ways we can artificially speed up the process doesn't mean the process isn't continuing. 1. It's a thought, or conception - this isn't me endorsing eugenics in any way. I just believe that, mechanically, it could achieve a similar result just accelerated and with a lot of really important moral questions.