I had a thought today that I'd like to share and expand on with your help.

The thought was that we humans have reached the pinnacle of our evolution. The reason for this I think, is that we are no longer governed by natural selection, which as I understand is the driving force behind evolution. Human existence is no longer a case of 'survival of the fittest', we take care of the sick and infirm, we nurture and protect the weak in our societies (which I believe is a good thing). We don't have to adapt to overcome our environment because we have clothing and concrete. we are not even really a part of the food chain anymore as we don't have prominent predators hunting us down and sharping our bodies and minds.

What do you think? Where do we go from here?

Is there anything left for us to achieve in an evolutionary sense?

Creepy...: I was thinking the same thing the other day, that have we evolved to a point where out technology has/is taking over, and as our tech evolves will our physical bodies actually devolve...

devolving was the other thing i was thinking about...I was wondering if actually the great apes devolved from ancient humanoid races?

Proof of ongoing evolution can be found even in recent history. Better food distribution has made us bigger and taller. At a historical exhibit I saw an adult female shoe from Jamestown that looked like a childs shoe to me. This evolution through environmental influence of food and medicine. WW2 battleships have passageways uncomfortably short for todays sailors.

Genetic engineering is in its infancy. As it matures we will find ourselves on a new horizon. For the first time we will find ourselves in control of our own evolution. Not only able to control our evolution but in full control of the evolution of all life on the planet.

We have had limited control of domestic animals evolution through breeding programs like race horses and dog breeds. That will be nothing compared to being able to fully control gene structure.

In a few hundred years the human race might become something we would not even recognize today.

Isn't evolution a consequence of natural selection?

I don't think that there is anything natural about genetic engineering, I see manipulating ourselves to be bigger, faster, stronger or more intelligent as just another step away from the symbiotic order of the natural world.

Evolution is a nutural response to stimuli of environment. Evolving the ability to control evolution itself is a natural extension of intelligence.

Intelligence itself being a result of evolution then where it leads is just a natural extension of that original attribute.

Very good point, I guess I was just thinking of evolution purely in physical terms.

YES, are you aware of social dynamics, they our biological and psychological beliefs or predispositions we must break the barriers of belief and begin to conceive why we conceive that is the next step in evolution for this reality any way

One thing i will say is that as much as we hate genetic engineering today, i have a feeling it will play a major roll in our future be it a good or bad thing....