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derektanktoday at 4:09 AM2 repliesview on HN

I have definitely run into the belief that humans aren’t evolving anymore (though not among scientists). I think people with an incomplete understanding of evolution look around, see most human beings survive to adulthood, and assume that there must be no more evolutionary pressures on us (perhaps with the phrase “survival of the fittest” tinging around inside their head). I honestly don’t blame anyone who hasn’t been exposed to the concept of e.g. sexual selection for making the assumption.


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delichontoday at 4:31 AM

  There's been no biological change in humans in 40,000 or 50,000 years. Everything we call culture and civilization we’ve built with the same body and brain. -- Stephen Jay Gould, "The Spice of Life", 2000
Gould was an evolutionary biologist and Harvard professor, and one of the most prominent popularizers of evolution since Darwin, but somehow believed that it doesn't apply to modern humans.
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knowaveragejoetoday at 5:00 AM

For the average person considering this question it also goes without saying that it's hard to grasp the time scales involved.