Do the Evolution

I was reading the other day that evolution has stopped. Just given up. We have apparently reached the pinnacle of the human form and are indeed at the zenith of our species' achievement. Frankly, I find this hard to believe.

At present, humans walk and talk and think (occasionally) and make tea and buy shoes for ludicrous amounts of money among all sorts of other physical and mental capabilities. So, to many it might seem like we've got the whole world in our hands, being able to deal with any problem life throws at us. But every stage of evolution must have said this too.

There's still loads we can't do. Personally, I'd rather fly to work, unaided of course. It'd be faster (probably), it'd be 'green', and I could probably sneak in a quick loop-de-loop before I glide in through the window to my desk.

I can't do this because I am not evolved enough to fly. My limited understanding of evolution tells me that adaptation occurs over many generations to aid survival. So, although I can't expect to sprout wings (or a helicopter attachment, how cool would that be?) in my lifetime, perhaps the answer is that I'm not trying hard enough.

If successive generations of my family made it their mission to fly unaided (by jumping lots, moaning about it all the time, etc.), maybe eventually, wings (or helicopter blades, come on!) would start to develop.

And it's not just me. I was speaking to Louis the other day and he said: "Gills would be a massive advantage." And he's right. Humans are crap. Can't fly, can't swim, can't pick up heavy things, can't teleport, can't communicate without saying "erm" or "y'know" between every sentence, the list is endless.

Evolution needs to carry on. Otherwise all the human race has got to look forward to is bumping their heads off the undersides of desks and tripping over stationary objects. Some people don't believe in evolution, and you can see why. "We evolved into this?!" they say with disgust (probably).

Anyway, the message is clear. Evolution hasn't stopped, we're just lazy. It's the same reason my shelves haven't been put up, it's not that I haven't evolved enough to do it, I just haven't had the inclination.

Ian 'evolving but slowly' Ravenscroft

One more thing, about this chicken and egg debate over which one came first. I was thinking the other day, that even if a giant chicken came down from space, declared itself our God and proceeded to rampage around the globe eating non-believers, we'd still be asking the same questions: "But did it come from a giant space-egg?"

Answers on a postcard.