• Question: Are humans getting smaller and less stronger due to evolution?

    Asked by 428bera39 to Shikha, Colin, John, Kevin, Triona on 10 Nov 2014. This question was also asked by wimpycrayon.
    • Photo: Shikha Sharma

      Shikha Sharma answered on 10 Nov 2014:

      Hi 428bera39,
      Hi,
      That’s a very intelligent question. Many people around the globe generally think that evolution took place a long time ago, but the realistic situation is human are still evolving and even faster than before.
      So are humans getting smaller??? The size of human beings and strength started reducing when our ancestors changed from the hunter-gatherer way of life to that of agriculture. The change of food style to agriculture resulted in a plentiful crop of food, but created vitamin and mineral deficiencies and resulted in a stunted growth. For example, Chinese farmer population ate cereals such as rice which lacks the B vitamin niacin which is essential for growth. But now there is a rapid increase in human height for the last two centuries. Over the last 150 years alone, the average height of the species has increased by 10cm. It is believed that the availability of nutrition is the reason behind this growth.
      But the interesting thing which many people are not aware of is that over the past 20,000 years, the average volume of the human being brain has decreased from 1,500 cubic centimetres to 1,350 cc. That means we have lost almost a chunk the size of a tennis ball. And it’s been likely that if our brain keeps decreasing at that rate over the next 20,000 years, we will have brain volume of only 1,100 cc. Now, there are various conclusions on this from different scientists- Some believe losing gray matter means humans are getting dumber. Others think that small brain size means efficient wiring and we will be more responsive thinkers. The decrease in size is believed to be a result of complex societies we are living in as now people do not have to be as smart to stay alive. Similarly, as we are becoming more and more dependent upon medication for survival, we can expect the human immune system to slowly weaken.
      So everything should be balanced but at-times evolution also have negative impacts.
      Hope this helps 🙂

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