When we speak of evolution, we always look into the past. For the evolution of human beings, we might begin to think about our ways from the ancient apes to the modern humans, how we walked out of Africa, and how we learned to use fire, tools, languages and other abstract symbols and so forth. However, in this unit, it is very meaningful to learn that human beings are still evolving.

Firstly, in terms of the genetic level, scientists announced that they could still trace the developments of our genes, or the genetic shifts in the human population. These genes will have influences in our physical traits and our lifestyles. For example, according to this article, the British people are becoming taller and fairer. Also, the genes influencing the habits of smoking cigarettes are also changing. (Pennisi, 2016) In China, I observed that the chances for wearing glasses in the youth generation of China has increased rapidly. When I was in middle school, there was only several students in the class wearing glasses, but nowadays in the class of the middle school students, almost 80% of the students are shortsighted. On one hand, it is related with their learning habits, and on the other hand, I think it has somewhat changed our genes. The genes of the shortsighted parents might influence the genes of their offspring, or making their offspring more vulnerable to the problems in terms of vision.

Another example in my daily life is that human beings might become less and less resistant to heat and cold situations. In the old days, in hot summer and in cold winter, people do not have the modern technology for air conditioners or floor heating devices. People could only fight against the heat or the coldness by their body. However, I think in these days, we could no longer stand the heat in hot summer days without the help of air conditioners.

In the article published in the website of Popular Science, I think the theory of the author really makes sense. According to Chodosh, because the multiplication and the growth period of bacteria is really fast, we could actually witness the evolution in their population. For example, many bacteria become more and more resistant to the chemicals and the antibiotics we used to deal with them. However, for human beings, because we do not “live and die as rapidly as bacteria, it’s hard to see the process in action.” (Chodosh, 2017) According to this article, in the future, we will all be lactose intolerant. Also, the Dutch men will become taller and taller. According to this article, nowadays, the average height of Dutchman is 6 feet tall, which is 7.9 inches higher than 200 years ago. This trend could also be found in China, and with the better nutritious condition and better genes, the average heights of the young generation are much higher than the older generation.

The evolution might also be reflected in other aspects. For example, the younger generation are more used to life with modern technology. It seemed that they are born with the ability to use Internet, and they learned faster than their grandparents.

References

Pennisi, Elizabeth. (2016). Humans are still evolving—and we can watch it happen. Retrieved from https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/05/humans-are-still-evolving-and-we-can-watch-it-happen

Chodosh, Sara. (2017). Yes, humans are still evolving. Here’s how you can tell. Retrieved from https://www.popsci.com/humans-are-still-evolving/