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Sir David Attenborough has spoken out to say that he believed humans have now stopped evolving in physical terms. He added that the human race has the means to keep the weakest of the species alive.
He said that people are no longer subject to Darwinian theories natural selection as we can rear up to 99 percent of our babies. He has suggested that humans will continue to develop in a cultural sense, inheriting knowledge from previous generations and building on it.
He spoke with the Radio Times this week in the UK and said “I think that we’ve stopped evolving.
“Because if natural selection, as proposed by Darwin, is the main mechanism of evolution – there may be other things, but it does look as though that’s the case – then we’ve stopped natural selection.
“We stopped natural selection as soon as we started being able to rear 95–99 per cent of our babies that are born. We are the only species to have put a halt to natural selection, of its own free will, as it were.”
Attenborough will host his new show Rise Of Animals on BBC2 and said “Stopping natural selection is not as important, or as depressing, as it might sound – because our evolutionary process is now cultural.“Humans have a great cultural inheritance as well as a physical, genetic inheritance – we can inherit a knowledge of computers or television, electronics, aeroplanes and so on.
“Each generation has got all these books that tell them these things, so our cultural evolution is proceeding with extraordinary swiftness.”
Kitguru says: Is he right?
This has been apparent for some time. We provide medical care for the disabled and babies who would otherwise not survive; and often provide for the poor/less successful to have the most children. It’s hard to see any positive traits which are really being selected for in developed countries.