Geneticist Claims Human Evolution Is Over 857
GogglesPisano writes "UK geneticist Steve Jones gave a presentation entitled Human Evolution Is Over. He asserts that human beings have stopped evolving because modern social customs have lowered the age at which human males have offspring, which results in fewer of the mutations necessary to drive evolutionary change. Apparently the fate of our species now depends upon older guys hooking up with younger woman. I, for one, welcome this development."
How convenient! (Score:5, Funny)
Imagine that. Old guy scientist claims that old guys should bag young women. "But, baby, it's scientific!"
I immediately thought of this:
General "Buck" Turgidson: Doctor, you mentioned the ratio of ten women to each man. Now, wouldn't that necessitate the abandonment of the so-called monogamous sexual relationship, I mean, as far as men were concerned?
Dr. Strangelove: Regrettably, yes. But it is, you know, a sacrifice required for the future of the human race. I hasten to add that since each man will be required to do prodigious... service along these lines, the women will have to be selected for their sexual characteristics which will have to be of a highly stimulating nature.
Ambassador de Sadesky: I must confess, you have an astonishingly good idea there, Doctor.
Ugh (Score:5, Funny)
"I for one welcome our old men banging young women overlords."
Keep on dreaming buddy.
I accept my fate (Score:5, Funny)
I accept my fate. I will propagate with younger women, if for nothing else than to save our species. :)
Feh! (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Seems a little strange (Score:2, Funny)
You could call this the cougar syndrome.
Re:Ugh (Score:5, Funny)
Yeah, like a young woman could be an overlord... (not counting if McCain wins and has a heart attack)
No, we're not counting a 44-year-old bit^H^H^H as a "young woman".
Re:How convenient! (Score:5, Funny)
MEIN FÜHRER! I CAN WALK!
Re:de-evolution (Score:3, Funny)
And when we kill them, the neocon menace will finally be over. Too bad we'll have just killed the last Neanderthals.
This is obviously true, but (Score:4, Funny)
we are looking, within a few generations at the ability to edit our own DNA. We will start selecting ourselves.
Re:How convenient! (Score:4, Funny)
Re:How convenient! (Score:2, Funny)
I expect that in a couple of days the news will be that evolution is slowly reversing...
DEVO knew that in the 80s.
The name "Devo" comes "from their concept of 'de-evolution' - the idea that instead of evolving, mankind has actually regressed, as evidenced by the dysfunction and herd mentality of American society."[1]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devo [wikipedia.org]
Now we'll ALL know if Darwin was right! :)
Re:Darwinian evolution? (Score:5, Funny)
Modern medicine may SAVE people that "should have" died and not passed on their genes.
Hell, I do that all the time when I slam on the brakes for idiot pedestrians. I feel like such a traitor to Darwin. I'm screwing up the whole system.
Re:Darwinian evolution? (Score:3, Funny)
Indeed, I mean here all these people with high IQs are hooking up, yet the average IQ remains at 100!
Re:How convenient! (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Darwinian evolution? (Score:3, Funny)
G G G G GODWIN!!!!!
Re:How convenient! (Score:3, Funny)
Benefit? You can run for hours at sprint speeds and your tendons or joints will wear out first
Please Nooooo!!! (Score:1, Funny)
Or maybe Slashdot published this article as part of a long term plot to get us all spending more time at work. Becuase we all know what we do at work, don't we?
Re:How convenient! (Score:1, Funny)
I expect that in a couple of days the news will be that evolution is slowly reversing...
...or that evolution doesn't exist at all! No, that would be to stupid to believe.
Re:How convenient! (Score:3, Funny)
You appear to be living proof of that.
Re:How convenient! (Score:3, Funny)
I expect that in a couple of days the news will be that evolution is slowly reversing..
Q: Are we not men? A: We are DEVO!
Re:How convenient! (Score:3, Funny)
>Gosh, maybe it is actually better for survival of the species if they are stupid and gullible.
For Nigerian princes, definitely!
Brain fart by an old fart? (Score:3, Funny)
How old were Romeo and Juliet? Seriously, I've read that the average life expectancy in classical Greece was something like 19, something like 23 for Imperial Rome, and, for that matter, something like 45 for 19th century America. When does this guy think people in tribal societies started breeding when an impacted wisdom tooth could kill you?
Sounds more like _somebody_ is having way too many thoughts about his grad assistants blended in with fantasies about the good old days when the chief got _all_ the action.
In Starcraft Terms... (Score:2, Funny)
Humans are more analogous to the Protoss than the Zerg. We do not naturally evolve biologically anymore because we develop advanced technology to do our bidding when we require it. If we need something biological, we'll eventually be able to genetically manipulate it into existence in a lab.
P.S. Yes I realize we are most analogous to Terrans than to the Protoss, but Carriers are cooler than Battlecruisers.
Condoms On Plaes! (Score:4, Funny)
This is hardly news. It's been obvious for many years. But it's interesting to see someone famous talking about it.
It's still not quite right--there are selective pressures. For example, in 1000 years the genes associated with the ability to use contraceptives will have been purged from the population. For example, all of humanity might have an innate terror of taking a pill every day. And then they'll release the new horror movie, "Condoms On Planes"!