Is man done evolving?

[Pai Mei]

Scientists recently found a still evolving gene in the brain and say that people are getting smarter.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/serv...IN09/TPScience/

All mutations begin as random events during conception. But they become more prevalent in a population if they offer a survival advantage, and if the people who carry them have more children than others.

This explanation of natural selection still confuses me. I have a hard time believing that these mutations are totally random, I think there is a cause for them. But based on that paragraph, why would we think we were finished evolving, if at any moment a mutation could occur and we could just keep getting smarter? Time permitting, I think evolution is infinite.

A good example of why I think these mutations are not random is the monkey. Way back before man, monkeys did not reside in trees, they were strictly land mammals. They slowly, due to the increasing number of predators, sought refuge in the tree tops. While on land, monkeys did not have that great of vision. It was only after they lived in trees for a while, did they develop the the post-orbital septum (the bone behind the eyeball which stabilized eye movement and makes objects less blurry). This helped them see predators from up high and also differentiate between leaf color so they knew what was good and what wasn't. I believe the mutation from no post-orbital septum, to having a post-orbital septum couldn't have been random. It had to be due to the need of better vision.

This goes along for many of natures doings; Giraffes and their long necks, Elephants and their big ears, Snakes and their venom, etc. These mutations can not all be a coincidence. They can't all be random. In my humble opinion anyway.

[Aírmanareiks Þiudareiks]

You are right, natural selection occurs mainly when adaptation to the environment or circumstances is required for survival. For example, you can call the higher resistance, and in some cases, immunity, found in most Europeans to bubonic plague a kind of small-time evolutionary step. They developed the resistance capacity in the aftermath of the black death, but since not all people of the world were affected by the pandemic, some people still could get infected. That is how many diseases spread among the Native Americans and ravaged their populations after Europeans arrived, who themselves were immune due to adaptation.
You are right about the giraffes and stuff too. Giraffes are herbivores, in the sense of food habits. They have developed longer cranial shafts to reach the leaves of the trees they normally live on, as they were usually at a high elevation. Some, however, adapted to living on ferns, grass, fruits, etc. and eventually they speciated into the giraffe and the okapi. Also, the okapi has developed zebra-like stripes for use as camouflage from a vast array of predators. Their colour also blends in with the shadowy understory of the environment. It resides in rainforests unlike giraffes as it is a grazing mammal. Giraffes, being leaf-browsers, are only found in abundant quantity in the Congo river basin.

[Aírmanareiks Þiudareiks]

Are you a biologist? Biology was a compulsory subject for me before I went on to my MBBS.

[JOKERz]

what is MBBS??

[Aírmanareiks Þiudareiks]

It is an academic degree for people who aim to become doctors. It is an abbreviation for Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery. It doesn't seem to be properly placed, but that is the actual acronym format. Ph. D is "Doctor of Philosophy", but you can also say "Philosophiæ Doctor", which makes the placement correct.

[Pai Mei]

Originally Posted by Eiríkr Rauði

Are you a biologist? Biology was a compulsory subject for me before I went on to my MBBS.

No, I'm not a biologist, I never even went to college. Just interested in things.

I am an artist in my heart, definitely not by trade. Artists are poor.

I work in accounting.

[cvrk3]

Very interesting topic made me to look at this thread and as usual and expected by me eric also took interest. Mutuation is not random, i do agree. that makes me think, whether human species in the next century or later will breath CO2 and exhale O2?

pai, your creative thoughts are reflected in your signature and excellant. Accept my standing ovation!

Now that you are creative and also an accountant, what are the creative accounting you have done? ( j/k)

[Aírmanareiks Þiudareiks]

I always dreamt of flying like a bird. It would be nice if my descendants are able to fulfill my wish naturally through evolution and mutation - wings and such, you know!

EDIT:
Though, this is highly unlikely for obvious reasons. And if it meant the modification of arms into wings, rather than outgrawing grafts, I'd rather not be alive by then to watch it. I know it is possible for humans to grow wings eventually, but they won't be feathered, I'm sure. I mean, look at bats; they're mammals too...and they can fly with their wings...

[Pai Mei]

I don't think wings are going to happen. There is really no reason for them to. Are minds will just come up with personal helicopters or something.

The only thing physical I see changing with humans, besides our brains obviously, is height. As a whole, I think the human race is getting taller. Why? Who knows? I also heard we might start loosing our pinky toe, or possibly growing a sixth finger.

[Aírmanareiks Þiudareiks]

Originally Posted by Pai Mei

I don't think wings are going to happen. There is really no reason for them to. Are minds will just come up with personal helicopters or something.

Yep! Which is exactly the reason I said that wings are highly unlikely. It meant that it is just a wish of mine.

"Do you like my armpit feathers?", that would be a funny scenario.