Sean B. Carroll answers a member question about evolution

We just filmed an extensive interview with biologist Sean B. Carroll in our studio and the team is hard at work editing — we can't wait to share it with you soon. In the meantime, we wanted to share this short clip from that interview where Jamie, a Big Think Member, got a chance to ask, “It’s common knowledge that our species’ evolution adapted us to a hunter-gatherer context. But I’m curious, how much have we evolved since the hunter-gatherer age?”

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[nathanielhellerstein]

We are under heavy selection pressure for resistance to diseases of crowds. Also for stress adaptability, literacy, and numeracy.

[sjenner]

Some evolutionary processes we can see in the prevalence of enzyme in adults to digest lactose. And we know are jaws have slimmed (hello teeth overcrowding). Also, with larger societies, one might expect positive selection pressures for less aggression.

[hydra]

It is interesting I think because our societal evolution has relaxed the stresses conforming our physical evolution. If anything, humanity as a population is becoming more diverse than before because there are less pressures to impact us as a group. It is like a state of conditioned 'anti-evolution' without devolution. The rejection of Eugenics (whilst arguably morally valid) assures an intermixture of good or bad developments, wherein the bad developments can be addressed via our societal evolution (ranging from technological innovations to welfare and accommodations).
The exceptions are when our societal evolutions (including technology) fail us, and physical evolution reasserts its pressures (like with vulnerability to a pandemic without vaccines).

[SeraStaplz]

You'd have to define a metric for measuring evolution to answer this question. We think of evolution as linear, but what is the "most fit" genetically may be no change at all.

[HTV-_Hypersonic_Glide_Vehicle]

Answer: "We are not that sure."

[SilverSerenity]

We have gone from evolution to ergonomics. We stopped conforming to the world and started shaping it to us.
That is why we have vestigial organs like the appendix and wisdom teeth.
We have improved our way of life and overall health. So evolution has ground to almost a halt.
The next wave of evolution will be what we deem important for future generations.

[JasonWalsh-bn]

10, 000 YEARS OF EVOLUTION IS NOT
ENOUGH!❤

[rebbrown]

So we're devolving instead? I knew it! 😅

[Bunny-chul]

I would think the evolution we've experienced in the last twelve thousand years would be more personality oriented. Traits like aggression have become significantly less valuable, and cooperation is now absolutely vital. Being able to fend for yourself and do everything on your own is far, far less valuable than being able to work in a group.

[Fuebes]

My own personal hypothesis would be not a very visible evolution but things that became gradually more common and can be considered somewhat “evolutionary” (such as endometriosis becoming a far more common development in women, etc)

[dabidibup]

I think the asker wanted examples, height would be one, right?
I thought he didn’t answer the question then I thought it’d be hard to answer cause we wouldn’t write down what we looked like before we were able to write stuff down. Or you can look at it like we considered certain of us to be further along evolutionarily and that answer the “how much?” (We thought that for a long time) but I don’t think that’s right either.

“When does the sun set?”
Well the sun doesn’t actually set, it the earth that…
“Nvm… baaaaby shark dododo”

[cordatusscire]

12, 000 years ago it all started eh? Jeez.. 400, 000 years and we figured out the wheel, farming, civilization building, etc..just a little bit ago comparatively. What slackers our ancestors were!

[brooklynnchick]

This is so hard! Do we discuss genetic or social evolution? Which definition of evolution do we use, a statistical method or a philosophical method, or do we use an even more complex global which means almost 100% subjectivity?

[Lyndanet]

Could someone take a dna 🧬 sample from “Lucy” and compare it with an indigenous person who may have migrated from the same region? To see how much the DNA sequence has changed?

[peterv]

Nature said, I will use material needs, health, and intelligence to create mating pressure, and people will evolve. People said BEER.

[urielpolak]

Yep its not all peachy. Men does not realize its own situation. Cost vs benefit in this time scale is a different matter

[dopaminewizard]

Interesting. With some analysis on neuroscience and evolution of the brain studies, I think that we don't evolve for that kind of social life we have today. And that may contribute for the root of all modern (mostly psychiatric) diseases and disorders. Our behavior must set a balance.

[susangabbard]

It’s almost like we live in Pangea even though we are separated by water due to travel and communication technology. Technology enables me to see into the living room of loved ones that answer a video chat thousands of miles away. What impact will this have on society, especially considering the enemy can use those technological advances against humanity as quick as they can be used for good? I guess we will all watch and observe the consequences of our actions. Life’s ultimate experiment I suppose.

[FranciscoSciaraffia]

Humans have domesticated ourselves. What we did to wolves, we did to us too.

[bronzejourney]

For the layman: Evolution requires natural obstructions to select a randomly generated group of genes who perform better against these obstructions. This cycle keeps repeating over the course of hundreds of thousands of years and results with dinosaurs to turn into chickens/birds of today.

We as humans work really hard with removing those obstructions. For example, you dont need to be fast and strong to hunt so you can eat, anymore. You can just shop for food. Your toothaches and you cant focus? We have dentists and tooth pastes to help for that. Your leg is broken? We have AI-assisted prosthetics that literally does the walking for you now.

All these technologies and advancements in science help individuals with "non-fit" genes to stay in the gene pool without having to be selected. Therefore effectively renders "evolution" obsolete. As it goes, its not Nature who selects now, its Us as Humans.

"We won".