Here’s an interesting idea: Humans are not evolving.
Evolved guy
For humans to evolve we would have to allow variation to run wild and then stand by and watch while most variations wither on the vine to see some very few selected for, for reasons that cannot be calculated in advance.
In point of fact, intentional humans struggle to suppress random variation, the engine of natural selection, preferring on the whole, to produce some approximation of predictable averageness in our progeny, lest they fall outside of the social definitions of what is “normal” and acceptable. What worse fate could befall our offspring, than to be deemed abnormal, and so excluded from the society of their fellows?
Of course we do favor and breed for some characteristics deemed desirable in some social context. In ancient Greece presumably, they bred for strength and agility — a physical ideal. Today we often breed for high IQ, a measure of prowess in reasoning out puzzles. Maybe breeding for the ability to solve puzzles produces a better human and maybe not. In our current social circumstance, puzzle solving prowess is highly valued, It is also possible that a preoccupation with puzzle solving ability, neglects and even works against some other quality of humanness of greater importance to our species’ survival.
