Allie Hughes
August 13th, 2019
The premise of this course has focused on how humans have evolved to where we are today. I’ve learned about the structure of DNA, sources of genetic variation, the study of paleoanthropology, population genetics, and more. These lectures have provided tremendous insight. In my final blog post, I will reflect on the continuous evolution of humans in our society.
In my lifetime, I’ve had the opportunity to witness the evolution of humanity. In the article Are humans still evolving?, I was introduced to this quote “human evolution is now ‘100 times faster”. Humans are continuing to evolve from a biological, behavioral, environmental, and cultural perspective. There are numerous examples and contributions to this evolution. In my post, I will give a few in-depth examples and provide a few high-level examples of biological and behavioral traits.
From a behavioral point of view, humans are continuing to evolve from the way people communicate, the availability of information and data, and the rise of modern technology. The first trait is the ways humans communicate. To say that communication methods such as cell phones, computers, social media and digital infrastructure has drastically shaped our society would be an understatement. People now have access to any information they need in a matter of seconds. Behaviorally, humans communicate with each other in different mediums. Because communication is online – it impacts relationships, education, business, and the day-to-day behaviors of humanity. Another contribution to the behavioral evolution of humans is technology. In Are humans still evolving? it stated, “Modern technology also presents us with opportunities to observe changes in humans at a molecular level”. One interesting take away I found from this quote was not only are humans evolving, but with our technology today, we observe those changes faster and more efficiently.
Along with behavioral evolution, biological evolution has a significant impact in the evolution of humanity. In our world today, multi-racial relationships are accepted more than they were 100 years ago. For behavioral evolution, one example that has personally impacted me is the intolerance to dairy. Researchers have found evidence of natural selection altering genes from the intolerance from the milk revolution. For me personally, this has effected most of my family and friends. From Are humans still evolving? research showed: “As humans in some regions began to rely on dairy farming as a source of nourishment, our bodies adjusted over time to be more able to digest this food, which, previously, was only tolerated by infants and toddlers.” This example provides insight into the biological evolution of humans throughout my lifetime. Another component from the article focused on the significance of region for dietary restrictions. For example: “We can see evidence of this evolution today because humans in areas with a long tradition of dairy farming — such as Europe — are much more tolerant of lactose in their diet than people in regions that do not have a heritage of dairy farming — such as Asia.” Reflecting on this quote asks the question of how will we continue to see dietary intolerances in the future of our lifetime especially with the rise of global warming and natural disasters.
The statistic below is evidence for the significance of region for dietary evolution: “Around 5 percent of people descended from Northern Europeans are lactose intolerant, compared with more than 90 percent of people of East Asian descent.” One of the reasons I decided to go in depth about the significance of dairy intolerance was because of how it sparks a conversation for the future. If there is evidence of natural selection altering genes from dietary tolerances, I am intrigued to see how humans will continue to evolve in the next 25, 50, and 75 years.
Human evolution is accelerating. Our society can better observe and analyze these changes due to the advanced technology, availability of information, and the communication infrastructure in our world today impacting in the behavioral traits of human evolution.
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Hi Allie,
I enjoyed reading your blog post this week! I really learned also, starting with the article you read saying how humans are evolving 100 times faster! That is crazy, I always heard we are evolving, just at such a rate we will never really notice the evolutionary changes that are taking place. I also totally agree with the changes regarding humans and communication and how everything is literally at our finger tips now. Same with behavioral, everything is done behind a screen now and I will even admit, I hate calling anyone on the phone and I use to not mind it at all. The lactose part is so cool to me! I also enjoy talking about this because it is crazy how in the past no dairy was used and then over time we began developing a gene so we are able to take in dairy now no problem! Expect some people still have problems and that is very interesting why since many of us humans have evolved from it! Good post!
I agree that technology is a contribution to behavioral evolution for humans. In today’s world, everybody communicates through their phones and computers. Social media is a major way that people can connect to anyone in the world. A couple of years ago it would be unheard of for you to access the internet on your phone. Now you can pretty much do everything on a smartphone that you can do on a computer. A lot of my friends are lactose intolerant. I didn’t know before taking this class that lactose intolerance has to do with region relying on dairy farming to be able to digest milk easier. At first, I thought it was just random if you become lactose intolerant or not but I now I see it has to do with where your ancestors are from.