A question for people who believe in evolution?

Question

This is coming from a christian point of view and it is just a general question I was wondering so please don't take any offense, just curious. If man came from apes/gorillas, why aren't men still evolving? I know Darwin came up with the theory that species over time adapt to their environment, but in that case, wouldn't their be all humans and no gorillas? If that makes sense...

Answer 1

Hi :) Firstly I'd like to compliment you on your polite question, this gets asked a lot and often it's only as a jibe to those who believe in evoloution, ignore those who are being mean!



This is a classic example of a misunderstanding, it's an easy one to make if all you hear is man evolved from apes.



The truth of the matter is that both man and modern apes evolved from a common ape-like ancestor, we didn't evolve from modern day gorillas which explains why modern gorillas aren't evolving into humans!



Evolution takes thousands of years, but you can sometimes see similar effects, such as the fact that humans are becoming taller and living longer, this is of course due to external influences such as better medical care which is one of the reasons evolution takes place!



I hope that helped sate your curiosity :)

Answer 2

Humans and apes did not "evolve" per say, in the same way most people ignorant to the topic seem to imagine (I'm not trying to be offensive, but that's the truth.)



The truth is, that famous picture that shows a monkey, then an ape, then a Neanderthal, then a human gradually standing up taller, is complete garbage. That's not how it happened.



Humans and the great apes had a common ancestor, which is now extinct. Both humans and apes are better adapted to our environment than the previous species. It wasn't a straight jump between the two though, if we look at history, there is a clear link between the apelike phenotype and the human one. Neanderthals and even earlier animals in the homo group had an ape/man type appearance. After awhile, you get what you see today.

Answer 3

1) we are still evolving. It's kind of a slwo process for an animal with a 20 year breeding cycle and we've been studying it for maybe a century and a half. Come back in 500,000 years and see if we're the same and it will be a valid criticism.



2) Oh for Christ's sake does anybody REALLY believe that the idea of evolution is that humans came from gorillas? Honestly? Is ANYONE that dumb still? The theory is that humans and gorillas have a shared ancestor. Your objection is like saying how come cousins and siblings can exist at the same time if we all had the same grandfather.

Answer 4

Gorillas evolved in a different habitat than hominids. Hence they are well suited to their environment and were well suited to ours.





Human evolution has been thrown for a bit of a loop by our intelligence. We do not need to evolve fur or a thick fat layer to survive the cold when we are capable of skinning those animals that have already.



That is not to say that we are not evolving, just that the evolutionary forces on us are more complex.



We are still evolving. However the progress of any evolution is pretty slow. And it is retarded by intelligence changing the environment to suit us, rather than waiting for evolution to do the opposite.



Meanwhile, people in the tropics have dark skin, people in the polar regions have light skin. An interesting one I heard the other day was that Inuit people have evolved to extract a much higher percentage of nutrients from carbohydrates (living in a carbs poor, high energy requirement environment this is a big advantage)



The high mobility of humanity and the lack of any long term isolated group has helped prevent any changes extend to the point where a separate species of hominids has been produced.

Answer 5

1. People don't "believe in" evolution - it's not a faith. They accept that evolution happens and that the theory of evolution is a good explanation that fits the facts.

2. You're not coming from a 'Christian' point of view. Many Christians, in fact the vast majority world-wide, accept evolution. You're coming from a scientifically ignorant point of view and/or a fundamentalist Christian viewpoint. This is almost entirely a US of A fundamentalist viewpoint. European Christians only rarely adopt such views.

3. As others have said, the basic error of imagining that humans "came from" apes/gorillas/monkey just indicates the complete lack of scientific education that you have received. The primates (that's all the apes etc including humans) have a common ancestor.

4. There's plenty of evidence of evolution within the ridiculously short timescale you seem to be referring to - try viruses, just for starters. But you certainly won't see big complex things demonstrating massive changes over a mere million years or so.



Look, I can accept in a way that you're "just asking". But honestly, aren't you even a little bit interested in actually learning some science, rather than asking questions betraying your extreme ignorance of the subject here? This really isn't the place to ask questions that start from assumptions that make dialogue almost impossible.

Answer 6

*facesmack*



Okay, this question is just ridiculously overdone.



Look, first off, gorillas and humans have a common ancestor, humans aren't descended from gorillas. Secondly, we ARE still evolving. However, we have a HUGE genepool now, so anything that happens to humanity will spread throughout that genepool slowly, thereby reducing change to a slow and measured pace. If, on the other hand, there were a huge catastrophe that separated humans into small pockets of people for a few hundred thousand years, maybe a few million years, you might see several different species of humans arise. But as it is, we evolve slowly.



Now, if you don't understand that, try looking up evolution on wikipedia and educate yourself on it. You don't have a real grasp of evolution, so your assumptions are flawed. Cheer up though, a little research can remedy that matter.

Answer 7

Man didn't evolve from apes but evolved from an ancestor which all primates evolved from.



Apes are more like our cousins than grandparents



The concept of evolution is that everything changes. These changes are caused by different reasons. Those changes may be more beneficial for the evolved specimen it could be a very small change and usually is. They could also be detrimental to the organism and cause its death. But if the change is good and increases the organisms chances of survival then that organism will thrive, reproduce and make more organisms like it. If this goes on eventually after a long period of time that organisms trait will dominate in its species.



That's evolution in a nutshell, it is more complicated than that in practical terms, but in theory this is the basci meaning. Everything evolves, everything goes through changes. Computers have evolved, insects evolved, our Earth evolves. Everything changes.

Answer 8

Sadly, sure. I don't fully grasp how they may be able to manage the cognitive dissonance. You don't seem to be good-informed given that you don't appreciate that concept is the maximum degree in technological know-how. It's now not a bet. It is ignorant to mention "JUST a concept". The typical ancestor of all apes (adding people and chimps) is a monkey and that may be validated for your pride. It does now not rely at the concept of evolution. It's a truth. Theories don't have evidence which most effective applies in arithmetic. Theories have proof. There isn't any proof of a god of any form. Theories are falsifiable. That's a function, now not a computer virus. If proof is produced that suggests an additional concept or this one demands amendment, then we found out some thing and are grateful for it. Religion does now not have that function. And it's requred. So production by way of a god isn't in a position of being a concept. Since the invention of mitochodrial DNA ancestry can also be observed by way of genetic mapping and we are not looking for bones to confirm the idea. Theories make predictions and can be utilized to increase different theories and open up utterly new strains of inquiry. The concept of evolution is valuable given that is works, now not always given that it's truth. Evolution is truth however normal resolution is a concept. Bottom line is that it really works. God as an evidence does not paintings for us and isn't relatively an reply in that regard. Its an excuse to not believe approximately it.

Answer 9

First off, your question sounds like it’s coming from a Creationist point of view, not a Christian one. Most Christian denominations are not opposed to the theory of evolution. Here are over 11,000 christian clergy who support it. http://www.butler.edu/clergyproject/Christian_Clergy/ChrClergyLtr.htm



Secondly, you’re confusing things when you say “if man came from apes/gorillas”. All gorillas are apes, but not all apes are gorillas. Some apes are chimps, some are orangutans, some are gibbons and some are humans. The term “ape” means any member of the superfamily Hominoidea, of which humans are members. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ape So humans did evolve from some other ape, which evolved from an ape before it, and so on back to the first ape, which evolved from something very like a monkey, though without the characteristic tooth patterns of modern monkeys. But there’s no evidence that any of those ape ancestors of humans were gorillas, or any other living ape.



Third, humans are still evolving. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/12/071210212227.htm

http://tinyurl.com/ylsam6



Finally, gorillas don’t adapt to their environment by becoming more human because the evolutionary steps towards becoming more human don’t provide an advantage. Natural selection can’t look ahead and say, “You know, if you guys had bigger brains you’d be better off in the long run.” It can only select traits that make individuals better off now. Humans had to give up a lot for our big brains. They require something like 20% of the body’s total energy intake, despite accounting for only 2% of the body’s weight. http://hypertextbook.com/facts/2001/JacquelineLing.shtml So our ancestors had to have access to more and higher quality food to provide for their larger brains. Also, no other animals have such difficult and deadly childbirths, made necessary for us by the huge size of our infants’ heads. And no other animals have young that are so dependent on their parents for so long, thereby allowing infant brains to continue growing long after birth. For our ancestors, given their position as already fairly intelligent and social primates trying to adapt to the savannah after having evolved in jungles and forests, all that turned out to be worth the cost. For other animals such as modern gorillas, maybe not so much.

Answer 10

Sorry, but it doesn't make sense, and it has been asked over and over again by evolution opponents, the majority of whom do not understand the theory.



First of all, we are still evolving. It is a very slow process, and cannot be seen in a mere few generations. Second, we didn't come from gorillas. We share a common ancestor. That common ancestor, you will note, is no longer around.

Answer 11

Humans DID NOT came from apes. We SHARE a common ancestor but we did not come directly from them. I'm tired of seeing people ask the same questions! I thought everyone took biology in elementary school, was I wrong? You do know there are many Christians who support evolution, believing in evolution does not make someone an atheist. Also, Darwin's theory about evolution has been proven factual which is why is still being taught. Visit the link below to learn more.

Answer 12

men are evolving, but our intelligence has slowed the process down. We use tools (fire, water, electricity) as adaptations to our surroundings, so we keep enough of our species alive that the helpful adaptations don't affect our survival as much. And gorillas do adapt, but they don't go some transformation into some being with a large brain at will. The gorillas with the stronger arms, quicker movement, and full functioning survive. Evolution is random, it doesn't pick what type of adaptation it creates.

Hope this helps.

Oh yeah, and you wouldn't be able to see evolution anyway.

It takes millions of years.

Answer 13

Many apes are more evolved than humans.



It is simply that our brains are large. That takes millions of years to develop. It allowed us to be bipedal (walk on legs, not all fours), freeing up our hands for additional tools and therefore we become what we are. language first started as hand gestures.



So the reason the apes aren't still evolving is... They are.



And the reason we aren't still evolving is because we have technology to replace nature. If someone is born with wings - who the hell would have kids with them? Also, why would we need them? We have aeroplanes. We have cars, so no need for faster legs. It goes on.

Answer 14

Humans did not evolve from gorillas, the two species shared a common ancestor millions of years ago. One group of the common ancestor was in conditions that favored a gorilla type form and the other was in conditions that favored a human type form.

Answer 15

I don't think human evolution has stopped, it appears to be ongoing. See links.



http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn7974-human-brains-enjoy-ongoing-evolution.html



http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/10/science/10cnd-evolve.html?pagewanted=print



We didn't evolve from gorillas but from a distant common ancestor. There is no reason to think that gorillas should evolve into humans. Its not goal directed. Chance mutations arise and then are either favored by natural selection in a given environment or not.

Answer 16

We still evolve, but because our environment around us is no longer changing as fast as it once did, the changes aren't as readily noticable. May eons ago, change happened so fast that changes had to be pretty much instaneous or the species wouldn't survive. We now have modern comforts and conveniences, good medicines and all these slow down evolution to a crawl. It will happen but the changes will be minor and not as noticable as they once were.

Answer 17

no we did not evolve from gorillas. gorillas and us share a common ancestor. that ancestor is found further back than the chimp-human common ancestor. and yes we are still evolving, you should also consider the fact that we dont really adapt to our environment but rather adapt our environment to us. the stresses we are put under are minimal when compared to that of other animals.

Answer 18

Just you wait a couple thousand years, and there will be no gorillas. And probably no humans either. Just cockroaches scuttling about the nuclear wasteland.



Gorillas are very well adapted to their environment, since they are just as evolved as we are, but in a different direction. They are very different from the common ancestor of humans and gorillas.

Answer 19

evolution is a direct result of adaptation. can we adapt any more to our current environment? maybe not physically but our minds are constantly evolving and coming up with new technology to help us adapt.



apes may still be apes because the environment they are in are the same as that long ago. their environment didnt change much, and so they didnt have much adapting to do.



if you study evolution, you will understand that the most exciting thing about it is the evolution of man's mental processing, rather than his physical appearance.

Answer 20

We are still evolving (all species are), and it happens that the species we evolved from no longer exist in any form other than ourselves. However, it is not necessary for a predecessor species to become extinct, most species are the result of divergence from an existing gene-pool.



Mia, excellent links!

Answer 21

"...why aren't men still evolving?"



We are.



As to why other apes aren't evolving into humans:



There is a high probability of one or more mutations in every generation, but the chance of one *specific* mutation occurring in a genome of many millions of bases is very small indeed. Suppose each required change to go from (say) a chimpanzee to a human is only one base, and the choices are an insertion, a deletion or a replacement. Suppose at a conservative estimate there are a million bases, and that there are 250,000 genetic changes between chimpanzees and humans. The probability of the first change occurring correctly, by random chance, is one in 3 million or 0.00000033. The probability of two correct changes is the product of their probabilities or 0.0000000000001. I'm sure there haven't been 3 thousand billion chimpanzee births on the planet, so even here we have gone far beyond the limits of plausibility, and we've only considered 2 correct genetic changes (and overly simplified ones at that), out of 250,000. If you wanted chance alone to provide exactly the right 250,000 genetic changes for chimpanzees to evolve into humans, you would have to live through the entire histories of uncountable trillions of universes to have even the most miniscule chance of it ever happening. In other words, you might as well regard it as utterly impossible for chimpanzees to evolve into humans.



Humans and chimpanzees evolved from a common ancestor several millions of years ago and there is absolutely no plausible chance that anything will ever again evolve into humans.



Please email me if this is not clear.

Answer 22

We are. What gave you the idea that we stopped?



And:

If humans descended from monkeys, why are there still monkeys?



This surprisingly common argument reflects several levels of ignorance about evolution. The first mistake is that evolution does not teach that humans descended from monkeys; it states that both have a common ancestor.



The deeper error is that this objection is tantamount to asking, "If children descended from adults, why are there still adults?" New species evolve by splintering off from established ones, when populations of organisms become isolated from the main branch of their family and acquire sufficient differences to remain forever distinct. The parent species may survive indefinitely thereafter, or it may become extinct.

Answer 23

NO-ONE - repeat NO-ONE - has EVER claimed that humans evolved from apes. That absurd idea is found ONLY in Fundamentalist Christian literature, NEVER in scientific literature. And humans ARE still evolving, as are ALL living things.

Answer 24

We are evolving. Everything is.

Keep in mind, evolution isn't us heading to a specific goal - it's us reacting to our environment. We aren't evolving much because we're surviving long enough to reproduce, with a pretty good degree of reliability.

Answer 25

Everything is still evolving. It's difficult to observe, because it only happens over long periods of time, but it's still happening.

Answer 26

We are still evolving, but the process takes millions of years, so it can't be directly observed.



If you want some examples of microevolution you can see: pinky fingers and toes are getting smaller with each generation because they are unnecessary. We are also getting less hairy because we do not need hair to keep us warm.

Answer 27

men are still evolving just not in huge ways!!



it takes thousands/millions of years for a full noticeable evidence like a ape to human....

Answer 28

"why aren't apes still evolving into men"



'Still evolving'? Like it ever happened in the first place.

Answer 29

I'm not totally convinced that we ever evolved from apes. I've never seen it in the bible. Since Man came from God.

hope this makes sense.

Answer 30

Evolution is going on all the time,man is evolving.

Answer 31

Because evolution occurs over millions and millions of years. There are still gorillas because they're a different subspecies of great ape.

Answer 32

Gorillas evolved from a different type of ape that we evolved from.

Answer 33

Evolution in large-scale species works in geological time, not in the paltry lifetime of humans or even that of our entire written history - although you can observe small changes within that time. Also branching trees, not straight lines, which you could have known, IF YOU HAD PAID ATTENTION IN SCHOOL.

Answer 34

Because the adaptation is Environmental in nature, not linear.

Answer 35

And you just observed a 'man' for the next million years did you?



Doh, you got me, this is a parody of a clueless fundie, right?



Right?



"This is coming from a christian point of view"



Ah, now I know you're having a joke, as there are many fine Christian biologists.

Answer 36

No, that's not how it works. It's not a transformation of all members of a species into a completely new species.

Answer 37

*drink*



Humanity has evolved tremendously in the past million years.



Take an anthropology class at your local community college if you'd like to know more.

Answer 38

Sigh.



We did not come from apes, we share a common ancestor with them.

Answer 39

We are still evolving!

Answer 40

I was going to rank on you but instead I will just suggest reading about it more.

Answer 41

Why would there be all humans and no gorillas?

Answer 42

some of us are still evolving...

Answer 43

what came first the legs or the lungs. the heart or the blood. hmmmm

Answer 44

They are crazy

Answer 45

exactly.