Will our feet eventually evolve into hands?

IvaBigWun

Has evolution got anything left to do with the human body?

MyKeyG

IvaBigWun wrote: »

Have evolution got anything left to do with the human body?

Wouldn't that sort of be going backwards? We had hands for feet as primates.

Doc Ruby

I wouldn't trust that evolution, look how it got rid of a perfectly serviceable tail. And now I can no longer hang upside down from a tree while clipping my toenails without a lot of discomfort/athletic buttocks.

kylith

No, our feet won't turn into hands.

It's anyone's guess what's in store for us, evolutionarily. I seem to recall hearing that there's some evidence that we're evolving to cope with our high fat diets.

TeddyTedson

more fingers I'd say and taller and darker

MyKeyG

kylith wrote: »

No, our feet won't turn into hands.

It's anyone's guess what's in store for us, evolutionarily. I seem to recall hearing that there's some evidence that we're evolving to cope with our high fat diets.

We have to evolve instead of going on diets? That's just laziness:D

Abi

IvaBigWun wrote: »

Has evolution got anything left to do with the human body?

Does vodka have anything to do with this question? :pac:

seantorious

IvaBigWun wrote: »

Has evolution got anything left to do with the human body?

I looked at myself naked in the mirror.

It really does.

Logical Fallacy

IvaBigWun wrote: »

Has evolution got anything left to do with the human body?

Nope, they might turn into leg cocks though.

Kevin Duffy

I don't know about feet becoming hands, but I've just measured and my hand is nearly a foot already.

stupidusername

it's an interesting thing to think about - how we can evolve. i don't think our feet will become hands. maybe they'll have less toes, as more and more people drive, we spend less time on our feet, and so need our balance a whole lot less.

we'll probably lose our appendixes eventually.

BEASTERLY

Because the weak are given more help than the abled bodied it blows natural selection out of the water. So the human living in the developed world will evolve no more.

Kevin Duffy

seantorious wrote: »

I looked at myself naked in the mirror.

It really does.

Look on the bright side, your eyesight is fully evolved.

Dotrel

IvaBigWun wrote: »

Has evolution got anything left to do with the human body?

Males will grow a second cock in case one gets shot off in a war.

seantorious

Kevin Duffy wrote: »

Look on the bright side, your eyesight is fully evolved.

It won't be until I can see through the walls of the opposite sex bathroom.

Robdude

I thought modern medicine and society has pretty much halted human evolution?

It's been a long time, but I though evolution only worked when certain traits increase or decrease someone's ability to procreate. That means in just about any first-world country - evolution is halted.

You don't need to be successful in any sense of the world to have children. And your ability to provide for them does very little to impact their ability to survive.

Kanoe

IvaBigWun wrote: »

Has evolution got anything left to do with the human body?

our brain..and our genes, constantly evolving to suit our environment/needs

Abi

seantorious wrote: »

It won't be until I can see through the walls of the opposite sex bathroom.

Why would you wanna watch some bird havin' a shyte?

Nodin

IvaBigWun wrote: »

Has evolution got anything left to do with the human body?

You'll note the already long and hairy nature of many Irish womens toes. Of course whether this is evolution, devolution or a consistent state has not yet seen a consensus amonst the scientific community.

Kevin Duffy

Abi wrote: »

Why would you wanna watch some bird havin' a shyte?

PM se.....wait....hang on, eh, never mind....

im invisible

We might evolve in a different direction, de-evolove wouldnt be the right word, but with all the 'bad' genes that would have been weeded out naturally staying in the gene pool, we might evolve in a direction that wouldnt exactly be 'survival of the fittest'

Deus Ex Machina

MyKeyG wrote: »

Wouldn't that sort of be going backwards? We had hands for feet as primates.

Homo sapiens are primates...

mconigol

Robdude wrote: »

I thought modern medicine and society has pretty much halted human evolution?

It's been a long time, but I though evolution only worked when certain traits increase or decrease someone's ability to procreate. That means in just about any first-world country - evolution is halted.

You don't need to be successful in any sense of the world to have children. And your ability to provide for them does very little to impact their ability to survive.

Evolution is the random mutation of genes. It hasn't and doesn't stop.

It has nothing to do with environment or society etc....although the environment will influence which random genetic traits are more advantageous and are thus kept.

Archeron

I can peel a banana with my feet, so yes.

stupidusername

mconigol wrote: »

Evolution is the random mutation of genes. It hasn't and doesn't stop.

It has nothing to do with environment or society etc....although the environment will influence which random genetic traits are more advantageous and are thus kept.

what?! that's exactly what it's to do with.

dvpower

stupidusername wrote: »

what?! that's exactly what it's to do with.

The mutations themselves have nothing to do with the environment. Which mutations are passed on have.

mutations + natural selection = evolution

kfallon

Has happened the other way round for this guy

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2068034/James-Byrne-thumb-replaced-big-toe-surgeons.html

galwayrush

Christie Brown is our future.

Robdude

mconigol wrote: »

Evolution is the random mutation of genes. It hasn't and doesn't stop.

It has nothing to do with environment or society etc....although the environment will influence which random genetic traits are more advantageous and are thus kept.

I thought natural selection was at the foundation of evolution.

From Wikipedia:
The genetic variation within a population of organisms may cause some individuals to survive and reproduce more successfully than others. Factors that affect reproductive success are also important, an issue that Charles Darwin developed in his ideas on sexual selection.

But in a modern society, only the most extreme genetic variations cause someone to be unable to reproduce or to die before they can reproduce.

Carverkid

Women will eventually have the ability to asexually reproduce, (apparently) as the the x chromosome (woman) is stronger than the y chromosome (man).

Kevin Duffy

Carverkid wrote: »

Women will eventually have the ability to asexually reproduce, (apparently) as the the x chromosome (woman) is stronger than the y chromosome (man).

Is it possible to give a quick and dirty paraphrase of how this becomes that conclusion?

hairybowsie

i'm down 4 adult teeth. Never appeared. Apparently i'm more highly evolved. Looks ridiculous though.

Irish Steve

There are some issues with eyesight, and the race in general seems to be doing it's best to destroy hearing. A genetic upgrade to include the equivalent of a WiFi or a USB port would make communication a LOT easier.

Evolution to enable mankind to deal better with Alcohol would be a big help,

Truth is, we don't know exactly what changes we need to survive, and some of the changes take longer than we care to think about, so why worry. We've got what we've got, so make the best of it.

bodhrandude

Maybe we will evolve into great big monoliths, now where did I hear that before :cool:

Kevin Duffy

Irish Steve wrote: »

There are some issues with eyesight, and the race in general seems to be doing it's best to destroy hearing. A genetic upgrade to include the equivalent of a WiFi or a USB port would make communication a LOT easier.

Evolution to enable mankind to deal better with Alcohol would be a big help,

Truth is, we don't know exactly what changes we need to survive, and some of the changes take longer than we care to think about, so why worry. We've got what we've got, so make the best of it.

This man is ahead of the curve

Kim_Il_Jong

Carverkid wrote: »

Women will eventually have the ability to asexually reproduce, (apparently) as the the x chromosome (woman) is stronger than the y chromosome (man).

Dear God they'll start making sandwiches......for themselves:eek:

I can't see how having hands for feet would bestow any survival or reproductive advantage upon an individual.

Besides human evolution is not likely to progress at a rapid rate any time soon.

One of the key factors that was recognised by Darwin as being necessary for evolution to occur was competition for survival among individuals. This doesn't really happen anymore in the developed world. Also, it is pretty much impossible for the human lineage to branch into seperate species at this point as there is too much transfer of genetic material between different geographical regions.

marketty

Robdude wrote: »

It's been a long time, but I though evolution only worked when certain traits increase or decrease someone's ability to procreate. That means in just about any first-world country - evolution is halted.

I see where you're coming from but most people don't live in the first world and second/third world populations are booming

Kovu

IvaBigWun wrote: »

Has evolution got anything left to do with the human body?

Will our feet eventually evolve into hands?

Yes. Yes they will.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1Qut0Nrsiw

mconigol

Robdude wrote: »

I thought natural selection was at the foundation of evolution.

From Wikipedia:
The genetic variation within a population of organisms may cause some individuals to survive and reproduce more successfully than others. Factors that affect reproductive success are also important, an issue that Charles Darwin developed in his ideas on sexual selection.

But in a modern society, only the most extreme genetic variations cause someone to be unable to reproduce or to die before they can reproduce.

stupidusername wrote: »

what?! that's exactly what it's to do with.

I probably explained myself badly. The point I was trying to make is that evolution itself is inherently random. Our genes don't mutate to suit the environment, they just change randomly.

Natural selection then is the process where the more beneficial traits are passed from one generation to the next. What's considered beneficial is of course influenced by the environment at the time.

mconigol

Kevin Duffy wrote: »

This man is ahead of the curve

Chances are the next stage of evolution will be man made rather than the "traditional" natural way. Why wait for millions of years when we get the knowledge and technology to improve ourselves at whim.

Son Of A Vidic

IvaBigWun wrote: »

Will our feet eventually evolve into hands?

Has evolution got anything left to do with the human body?

What do you think OP? Have an opinion yourself by any chance?

im invisible

Archeron wrote: »

I can peel a banana with my feet, so yes.

are you a chick?

Ellis Dee

Carverkid wrote: »

Women will eventually have the ability to asexually reproduce ---

Does that mean they'll be able to fuck themselves?

Son Of A Vidic

MyKeyG wrote: »

Wouldn't that sort of be going backwards? We had hands for feet as primates.

Two questions, how old are you? Because you must be seriously old. Secondly, have you yourself discovered the missing link?

smallBiscuit

First There is so much wrong with so many responses to this thread
Second, I know, its after hours

Survival of the fittest has nothing to do with how fit you are, how strong, how log you live, whether you have 6 fingers or 2 dicks.
Survival of the fittest means, whoever is best at attracting a mate,having lots of kids and raring the most to the age to have their own.

So, It is possible (unlikely, but possible) that we could evolve hands where our feet are* If Women everywhere suddenly decided they only wanted to sleep with men with dexterous feet, then those men would have more kids, would be 'fitter'. Keep it up for couple of a million years and bobs your uncle

* Leaving us with the problem of which 'hand' to use when ****, It's no longer left/right it's now left/right, upper/lower. The indecision could kill you

antodeco

Bigger heads (intelligence) bigger eyes (to cope with less sunlight) lower body mass (as we protect ourselves more with other objects/less fighting). Think of aliens. That is what we are evolving into. Aliens are time travellers. Not the "how's your mammy for gates" travellers though.

44leto

A thread about the great misconception about evolution. Although one of the great world changing in ideas theories, its simple to understand yet so many get it wrong.

To evolve "To develop or achieve gradually" I took that from a dictionary. People think it is a forward verb, we evolve forward, we become better. But that is not what evolution is. Evolution is a process, there is no forward or backward development. There is just change and that change maybe successful in the organisms reproductive success.

Evolution is not about mortality, but reproductive success, that is something Darwin and the early theorists did not get. We don't evolve into xmen or a higher form of life. Our offsprings survive, that is success.

Take the Dolphin it came onto land and became a sort of dog, then it went back into the sea and remains there for now. Take us, our brains are the reason we are so successful, for now, but it is a very expensive piece of kit. It consumes about a third of our bodily resources. So imagine some cataclysmal event that reduced atmospheric oxygen to about half of what it is now.
Suppose after some birth defect a less intelligent smaller brained man survived. He may go on and have offsprings, then a branch of humanity would survive and replace us but be less intelligent and incapable of culture.

That would not be a "backward step" that would be survival, that is evolution. Evolution has no direction, it has no agenda. It is just a cold natural process.

hairybowsie

according to ray kurzweil, human evolution is almost over. We'll be downloading our brains to our ipods in 2045

Saila

our entire solar system will have been consumed by the sun long before evolution gets a chance to do anything majorly significant

tl,dr: it doesnt matter we are ****ed anyway

Coriolanus

seantorious wrote: »

Kevin Duffy wrote: »

Look on the bright side, your eyesight is fully evolved.

It won't be until I can see through the walls of the opposite sex bathroom.

I want to see gamma rays! I want to hear X-rays! And I want to - I want to smell dark matter! And feel the wind of a supernova flowing over me!