Do you believe in God?

[harvey19 541]

If the ape is next to man in evolution terms why has no one been able to teach it to talk ?

A budgerigar can be taught to human words.

Why aren't future generations of apes evolving into humans ?

Why has evolution stopped at the human form ?

Stupid questions at face value maybe but worth thinking about in evolution terms.

[Magilla 510]

46 minutes ago, harvey19 said:

If the ape is next to man in evolution terms why has no one been able to teach it to talk ?

They are physically incapable, signing however has had some success.

 

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A budgerigar can be taught to human words.

Budgerigars repeat sounds by wrote, they are not speaking words.

 

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Why aren't future generations of apes evolving into humans ?

They are evolving. There is no possibility they will ever evolve into humans.

 

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Why has evolution stopped at the human form ?

It hasn't... merely that we have circumvented many of the things that would have previously removed "the weak" from the gene pool, natural selection in the traditional sense mostly no longer applies... any need for specialisation has all but gone.

 

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Stupid questions at face value maybe but worth thinking about in evolution terms.

In evolutionary terms, modern man, i.e humanity, has been around an infinitesimally small amount of time.

 

Any evolutionary changes over that timescale would also be infinitesimally small.

Edited January 15, 2023 by Magilla

[Annie Bynnol 612]

31 minutes ago, harvey19 said:

If the ape is next to man in evolution terms why has no one been able to teach it to talk ?

A budgerigar can be taught to human words.

Why aren't future generations of apes evolving into humans ?

Why has evolution stopped at the human form ?

Stupid questions at face value maybe but worth thinking about in evolution terms.

   The apes are not 'next' to man. They have not got the physical bits to make our noises.  We have shared ancestors which existed tens of millions of years ago. In that time successive species have evolved their own communication systems which benefits them most(being too sophisticated uses up too much brain space and energy which could be used for other advantageous activity like seeing lots more green shades than we do).

  Apes cannot evolve into humans although they may evolve (convergent evolution)some human characteristics that might benefit them. 

   Human continue to evolve as easily seen in disease resistance and in specific ways like lactose tolerance  enabling a massive increase in diet choices.

   

 

 

 

[Annie Bynnol 612]

31 minutes ago, Magilla said:

It hasn't... merely that we have circumvented many of the things that would have previously removed "the weak" from the gene pool, natural selection in the traditional sense mostly no longer applies... any need for specialisation has all but gone.

 

   I agree with all your other points but I have to comment on the reference to "...weak...". When Wallace and Darwin refer to the survival of the fittest by natural selection, what they mean by 'fittest' has little to do with strength, size or speed.  It should be taken to mean a feature that gives them an advantage to survive and produce offspring that survive to adulthood.  Getting muscles in the gym is not passed on, a liking for going to the gym could be. Small seals and walruses are regularly attacked by big males that chase them away from 'their' females however the big males are too busy fighting and mating to notice that most of the females are mating with the far more numerous smaller seals. The colony survive. Human survival as a species has to deal with the huge length of time between birth and maturity and so behaviour and cooperation between groups and hence language and the ability to make informed decisions about the future and what is beyond that hill has become a trait for selection in our continuing evolution. 

   Unfortunately far-right politics and nationalism often resorted to images of strength, power, racial purity and used 'survival of the fittest'/'elimination of the weak' as one of their excuses for their beliefs. Racial purity and pure blood and elimination of the weak reduces the gene pool and thus reducing the ability to adapt and is dangerous to the survival of any species.

   Chimps are in perpetual violent conflict with each other and with other groups. The related Bonobos have a very different approach. Which would dominate if at all if the humans disappear?