Journal #15: Five Signs Humans Are Still Evolving
Summary:
In this article, it is suggested that humans are still
evolving—surprising, as one would think with all the modern technology and the
consistent industrialization that humans would not evolve anymore. This is
false, as apparently, from losing our wisdom teeth to drinking milk—we’re still
evolving.
The Unknown |
Personal Response:
This was very interesting, mainly because I have considered
the ways that humans may have evolved for the past centuries, but still, I have
not noticed anything (morphological, anyway). However, this article has indicated
that changes are perhaps, internal and not shown physically; such is the
ability to digest lactose (as agriculture and domesticating animals have led to
this being advantageous), which made sense, considering that many people are
still lactose-intolerant when perhaps, long ago, most people are lactose
intolerant. Another sign is our wisdom teeth, which is very often lost or taken
out by a dentist. This is due to our lack of need for strong chompers as we
have eating utensils; this is not the end, because apparently, our brains are
also shrinking from 1,500 cubic centimeters to
1,350 cubic centimeters, which is about the size of a tennis ball!
These
findings do paint a very mysterious future for humans: will we develop smaller
heads to contain our brains? Or intestines that will deal with saturated fats
and unhealthy foods because of the increasing rates of obesity? Will we grow physically
weaker as we depend on technology more and more? What will we continue to
evolve into?
Hulligner, Jessica. "5 Signs Humans Are Still Evolving
| Mental Floss." Random, Interesting, Amazing Facts - Fun Quizzes and
Trivia | Mental Floss. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 June 2013.
<http://mentalfloss.com/article/30795/5-signs-humans-are-still-evolving>.