The Pinky Paradox — Why humans may stop evolving
The pinky toe, wisdom teeth they’re both useless. Yet, for some reason, evolution has not removed them. In fact, evolution seems not to be happening to humans in general, which begs the question, have humans stopped evolving?
Darwin’s theory of evolution states that all species of organisms arise and develop through the natural selection of small, inherited variations that increase the individual’s ability to compete, survive, and reproduce. In essence, species progressively gain traits that increase their odds of survival.
The standard way natural selection selects traits is through reproduction, which leads to the highest reproduction rate. The strategy falls flat for humanity because technology has enabled humans to survive regardless of inadequate or useless traits.
Suppose a new trait comes along that removes an organ without any downside, say, the appendix. Now, the new trait would be beneficial because one less organ means less energy used, which means humans would be able to survive with less gathering of food. That would result in more time spent on other things like medicine, resulting in higher reproduction rates.
However, those reproduction rates don’t increase anymore, and technology can substitute wasteful organs’ energy consumption with plows, tractors, and even drones. Even if we somehow lose the organ anyway, the trait won’t stick because humans with the trait will reproduce roughly the same as those without the trait.
So, to answer the question of whether humans have stopped evolving, the answer is probably, and soon definitely. As our technological prowess grows, it will continue to substitute evolution until humans don’t evolve at all. So, yes, you will be keeping those pinky toes for a long time.
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