Can you see that we evolved from primates?

[jenne]

This should perhaps be in a sub-forum on evolution, but I want to bring it to the awareness of believers in religion.

We have the interesting idea (fact) that we evolved from primates, and yet we do not really know it as we know that the sun rises, or that organisms grow, etc. We believe evolution is true, but this is not the same as really knowing.
Think how amazing it would be to be able to actually watch evolution unfolding over millions of years. Imagine having it all on video, and being able to speed it up. If you could do this, you would really know it.
I have noticed that it is in a way possible to see that we evolved from primates. There are many people who are really not so different from each other. It is almost possible to predict what they are going to say. I find this easier to notice in simple-minded people. I have not perceived it easily in well-educated, clever people.
We do not see each other in this light. It is difficult to express - we think 'He is John', 'She is Sarah', we see individuals. When you see someone in the way I have just been describing, I think you see more sharply.

If we could really know, in the strongest sense of the word, the truth of evolution, would it change the way we see ourselves, would it benefit us? The first thing that came to mind to me on this, was the problem of overpopulation. Believers in Christianity, Islam and Judaism do not like the idea that population growth should be checked (I do not know this from experience, but I think it must be true), but is it realistic to think that it does not matter if the human race keeps getting larger? From what I know of monotheistic religion, I would say that the most obvious reason believers do not like it is because they believe that we are all created by god, we are 'children of God'.
I have more to say on this subject, but I will post this now.

 

[australopithecus]

We believe evolution is true, but this is not the same as really knowing.

I'm pretty sure we do know.

I have noticed that it is in a way possible to see that we evolved from primates.

....because we're still primates?

I tuned out as soon as you starting babbling about "simple minded people".

 

[kenandkids]

We didn't evolve from them, we are them. We are just a different species.

 

[televator]

Can't be human without being a primate.

 

[Gnug215]

So far three people have posted replies, only giving corrections, not really responding.

Nice work, guys!

 

[kenandkids]

So far three people have posted replies, only giving corrections, not really responding.

Nice work, guys!

And one who didn't even supply a correction... lol.

 

[MillionSword]

I can't even make out what you're trying to say jenne.

 

[borrofburi]

I misread the title as "Can you see that we evolved from pirates?" which was pretty awesome.

 

[ranchodeluxe]

since species are constantly evolving i suppose we could some day evolve away from being primates but i suspect that could take a very long time unless genetic engineering were used to speed things along. but to answer your question, no we did not evolve from primates, we evolved from more primitive primates and before that more primitive species. as we continue to evolve i suspect we may end up looking something like this.

 

[Demojen]

This post really has nothing to do with primates and seems to be a rant on the subject of empirical knowledge. Though it only takes knowledge at face value, with things that can be sensed directly. If people only lend credence to those things they can understand at face value, then nothing they speculate can ever be known and they can not trust the results of any tests.

If you're going to undermine the scientific method, please do so in a less convoluted way.

 

[Inferno]

since species are constantly evolving i suppose we could some day evolve away from being primates but i suspect that could take a very long time unless genetic engineering were used to speed things along. but to answer your question, no we did not evolve from primates, we evolved from more primitive primates and before that more primitive species. as we continue to evolve i suspect we may end up looking something like this.

Uh could we? Heck no we can't. Check out AronRa's videos, he explains it quite nicely: We can't outgrow our ancestry.

If we could really know, in the strongest sense of the word, the truth of evolution, would it change the way we see ourselves, would it benefit us?

We already know, according to your definition. Would it change anything? Yes, I expect humans to be much more tolerant of others if they understand Evolution. I expect that there will be absolutely no more racism, homophobia and sexism, all of which are IMO impossible if you understand Evolution properly.

but is it realistic to think that it does not matter if the human race keeps getting larger?

PRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRT! There's no such thing as a race. "Race" is either a competition to get somewhere first or it's a colloquial term, not a scientific one. "Race" in biology does not exist.
No matter what we do, we'll eventually arrive at a maximum, also called the carrying capacity. We can't continue to grow forever.

 

[australopithecus]

So far three people have posted replies, only giving corrections, not really responding.

Nice work, guys!

I was first, they're all copying me. But in their defence there's nothing to reply to. It's badly communicated whatever the point is supposed to be.

 

[ranchodeluxe]

since species are constantly evolving i suppose we could some day evolve away from being primates but i suspect that could take a very long time unless genetic engineering were used to speed things along. but to answer your question, no we did not evolve from primates, we evolved from more primitive primates and before that more primitive species. as we continue to evolve i suspect we may end up looking something like this.

Uh could we? Heck no we can't. Check out AronRa's videos, he explains it quite nicely: We can't outgrow our ancestry.

if primates evolved from simpler species and so fourth on down to a single cell organism than it only stands to reason that primates could continue to evolve into other species that do not yet exist. this is something that is probably very hard to imagine for some people because it involves thinking very far ahead into the distant future. here is an example of a creature that may one day have evolved from a primate into a new species. no we can not escape our ancestry but new species can take form that share the same ancestry as primates and primates can evolve into new species as well.

judging by the size of this creatures brain its probably much more intelligent than its primitive primate ancestors.

 

[Laurens]

Nah those legs are way to small and flimsy to support a brain that size, that creature would just topple over all the time.

 

[ranchodeluxe]

Nah those legs are way to small and flimsy to support a brain that size, that creature would just topple over all the time.

this creature in mans possible future could inhabit another planet that has a different gravitational pull, so this guy probably just floats around in near zero gravity or under water. can you see that a new species could evolve from primates? since the original topic made no sense i had to change the thread content to fit the question "Can you see that we evolved from primates?" :lol: and now the thread makes perfect sence. :mrgreen:

 

[Squawk]

Just as an aside.

Anything that humans (or any other human) evolves "into" in the future will still, by definition, be a primate. However, it would be reasonable to say that it could evolve to the point where it no longer has the characteristics of a primate in any really meaningful way.

Think about human ancestry. By strict taxonomical classification we are still fish. However, stating that we are fish is only useful in the taxonomic sense, for understanding ancestry. Nobody is going to go around classifying us as fish now since it serves no purpose, we've evolved so far away from that body layout that it serves no real purpose. We could refer to birds as fish, humans as fish, cats as fish etc, and as long as we are careful to make the distinction in definition between extant fish species and the fish from which we evolved, we would be correct.

Apply the same thing to human descendents a billion years from now. While technically still humans (and primates), should evolution have occurred to an extent large enough to give a re-arranged morphology it would be silly to refer to the daughter species as human in anything other than a strict taxonomic sense. Where primates are now referred to as an order, it would likely be more appropriate to refer to humans as an order, or maybe even a class. Of course by that time the current classification system will be obsolete since it will lack resolution. Humans and primates will be essentially indistinguishable given so much evolutionary time.

 

[ranchodeluxe]

Just as an aside.

Anything that humans (or any other human) evolves "into" in the future will still, by definition, be a primate. .

birds have evolved from dinosaurs but by definition they are birds now and no longer dinosaurs. i believe that primates can change into a new species also through time (billions of years). perhaps not very long with the help of genetic engineering. here are a few conceptual examples of creatures that would probably no longer be considered primates.

 

[Squawk]

Birds are still dino's, it's just not much use referring to them as such. You'd presumably class a bird as an animal, right?

 

[MillionSword]

I don't think humans will change too much in the future. Back when we first developed into the Homo Sapiens we are today, only the fittest could tolerate the harsh elements and produce offspring. We're far too domesticated now and instead of needing to adapt to the environment, we modern humans adapt the environment to suit us.

 

[ranchodeluxe]

I don't think humans will change too much in the future. Back when we first developed into the Homo Sapiens we are today, only the fittest could tolerate the harsh elements and produce offspring. We're far too domesticated now and instead of needing to adapt to the environment, we modern humans adapt the environment to suit us.

yes but when the environment changes thats when we change also to adapt to new conditions.